Cardinal Flower 'Fried Green Tomatoes' PP#21,958

In addition to boasting the most fun name of the season, 'Fried Green Tomatoes' is a splendid new take on the native Cardinal Flower both for its brilliant purple new foliage and its profuse, deep tomato-red blooms. Far more vigorous, fast-growing, and cold-hardy than older varieties, it is a superb choice for moist to wet soils in full sun or light shade.

In spring, it arises as a rosette of bright purple foliage, growing at an astonishingly quick rate. By summer, the purple is mingled freely with dark olive-green, and by midsummer the best red tones are on the undersides of the leaves, though occasional flashes still decorate the top as well. The flowers begin to open at this point: butterfly-shaped, a rich perfect red, they attract every butterfly and hummingbird in the neighborhood into your garden!

The blooms continue for up to 3 months, arising on dark chocolate-brown stems which are attractive all by themselves. Unbelievably profuse, they are great for cutting as well as garden enjoyment. And they stay right through late summer and, in some climates, into early fall, bridging that difficult period in many gardens where not much is at its best.

'Fried Green Tomatoes' reaches 30 to 36 inches high in flower, and reaches 24 to 30 inches wide. Even as a young plant, it will sport more than 2 dozen flowering stems, and of course it just increases in beauty and flower power in succeeding seasons. Much cold-hardier than most other L. cardinalis varieties, it is untroubled by pests or diseases. In other words, you can't go wrong with this native!

'Fried Green Tomatoes' was selected by a Pennsylvania nursery from seed-grown Cardinal Flower, and introduced by Plants Nouveau in 2009. We have found it absolutely dependable and lovely in the border as well as in the moist soils of waterside plantings and bog gardens. Give it a try this season! Zones 4-8.