Sunlight Gardens complete list of mail order wildflower plants

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Oenothera speciosa

Showy Evening Primrose

Zones: 5, 6, 7, 8

All summer long, from Illinois to Virginia and south, if you think you are seeing pieces of pink tissue paper in fields and along roadsides, you may be seeing the flowers of Showy Evening Primrose. The 2 inch, 4 petaled, day-blooming flowers are soft pink (occasionally white) with bright yellow centers. Grow this tough plant in full sun and average soil where it will form 2 foot clumps. A natural for meadow planting or a difficult area where spreading is desired. Cat# 1150 -more info-

Oenothera speciosa, Showy Evening Primrose

Available: Currently

$5.00 each in 3.5 inch pots

Oenothera tetragona 'Highlights'

Sundrops

Zones: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Sundrops is a cheerful perennial forming clumps one to two feet tall and blooming in early summer. Two inch bright yellow 4-petaled flowers clustered at the ends of stems are open during the day unlike those of the related Evening Primrose. The rich dark green leaves turn bronze for the winter. Grow Sundrops in a dry or average well-drained site in sun or light shade. Place it in the front of the garden with other drought-tolerant species or naturalize it on a sunny bank. Good companions include Butterfly Weed, Black-eyed Susan, Beard-tongue, and Coneflowers. Cat# 1151 -more info-

Oenothera tetragona 'Highlights', Sundrops

Available: Currently

$5.00 each in 3.5 inch pots

Onoclea sensibilis

Sensitive Fern

Zones: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Sensitive Fern has fronds that are broadly triangular with lobed leaflets. The fertile fronds are very different from the sterile fronds, forming what look like stiff, upright elongated clusters of dry beads. The fern gets its name because the yellow fall fronds shrivel and turn brown after the first good frost. Sensitive Fern grows naturally over a very wide range - from Labrador to Florida, in damp places. Give it a damp, lightly shaded spot and it will easily thrive for you, naturalizing by creeping rhizomes into an attractive deciduous ground cover about 2 feet tall. It would be lovely growing as a ground cover with Spicebush and Sweet Pepperbush. Cat# 1152 -more info-

Available: 2009 or later

$5.00 each in 3.5 inch pots

Osmunda cinnamomea

Cinnamon Fern

Zones: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Cinnamon Fern, like its cousins Royal Fern and Interrupted Fern, is a bold and majestic fern that grows in damp acidic places throughout eastern North America and even down to Mexico and the West Indies. Its bright green twice cut sterile fronds grow about 3 to 4 feet tall and 6 inches wide from thick, wiry rootstocks. But it gets its name, Cinnamon Fern, from the very different fertile fronds which contain the spores or reproductive parts. The fertile fronds may grow a foot or so taller but are very narrow and sparse looking like a thin frond that has been rolled in cinnamon. Grow this handsome fern in moist to wet acidic soil in partial sun to shade where its beautiful vase shape can reach its potential. Cat# 1153 -more info-

Available: 2009 or later

$5.00 each in 3.5 inch pots

Osmunda regalis

Royal Fern

Zones: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Royal Fern is a great big, bold, majestic fern of bogs, swamps, and acidic damp places throughout all of eastern North America. From its massive base, clusters of erect twice pinnate (twice cut) fronds shoot up, vase-like, to 5 feet. However, under normal cultural conditions of damp or wet light shade, expect these ferns to grow around 3 feet tall. Royal Fern adds interest and a strong architectural component to the landscape throughout the year. The fiddleheads (new fronds or leaves) of Royal Fern are those eaten as a delicacy, and as these uncurl in the spring, the plants look so delicate. Summer brings on the bold display of bright green. Then in winter, after the golden fronds of fall have crumpled to the ground, the hummocks of tangled old black roots stand like burial mounds in the winter landscape. Interestingly, these wiry old root masses are cut up and used as slabs or ground up coarsely to be used as a potting medium for tropical orchids. In any case, consider yourself lucky if you have a site where you can use this beautiful fern. Cat# 1155 -more info-

Available: Currently

$5.00 each in 3.5 inch pots

Oxalis violacea

Wood Sorrel

Zones: 5, 6, 7, 8

Wood Sorrel grows in open woods in rocky, acidic soils throughout the eastern United States often around the bases of large oak trees where they may form large patches. The 2 to 3 inch tall clumps have clover-like leaves and 2/3 inch light violet-pink flowers bunched on 3-inch stalks in late spring. Flowers often close on cloudy days. By mid-summer the plants have gone dormant and disappeared. Plants come from tiny pea-sized tubers, which spread, via thread-like runners. This is a neat plant to naturalize in average to dry soil in open shade. Try it with Alumroot, Pussytoes, and 'Corbett' Columbine. Best planted AFTER going dormant in summer. Cat# 1384 -more info-

Photo courtesy of Missouri Botanical PlantFinder

Available: Currently

$5.00 each

Oxydendrum arboreum

Sourwood, Lily of the Valley Tree

Zones: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Watch out Dogwoods, 'cause Sourwoods are going to give you a run for your money! Why? Sourwoods are medium sized trees growing 25 to 30 feet tall in cultivation with a pronounced conical shape. They are long-lived, slow growers in acidic, well-drained, organic soils in sun or shade. Leaves are long-pointed and rich shiny green but come fall, the foliage turns red, yellow, or purple but mostly deep burgundy with some shocking pink. This goes on for 2 or more months. And the flowers start appearing in mid-summer amongst the dark green leaves. Four to 10 inch long, drooping clusters of tiny, bell-shaped, white flowers become so plentiful that they weigh down the branches so the upper third of the tree looks like it has been strung with garlands of white popcorn. Flowering persists on into the fall and looks lovely against the dark red foliage. Do you think we like Sourwood? Sourwood should be used as a specimen tree in full sun where its colors will really develop. Cat# 1416 -more info-

Available: 2009 or later

$15.00 each in quart pots