Rudbeckia 'Henry Eilers'

Perennials are the lifeblood of Natureworks.  Since our beginning in 1983, we have always sought out the latest, cutting edge varieties of perennials available in the industry. Luckily, just as Natureworks began, perennials were coming back into vogue.  As Natureworks grew, the perennial industry expanded and became a major part of the ornamental plant world.  Perennials suddenly were hot! Wholesale nurseries that formerly devoted themselves to yews, Rhododendrons, and flowering trees jumped on the perennial bandwagon as customers started demanding year round color in the landscape. Taking a cue from the trends in Europe, designers began weaving perennials into all of their projects, both residential and commercial. Advances in tissue culture breeding and propagation now enables an amazing selection of plants to be introduced each year.

Because Natureworks designs, installs, and maintains perennial gardens, our expertise is very hands on and up to date in this field.  Nancy DuBrule-Clemente, the owner of Natureworks, has written and self published a very useful book Succession of Bloom in the Perennial Garden that tracks the bloom times of the varieties of perennials and flowering shrubs here in Connecticut. This provides an invaluable resource for home gardeners and professional designers trying to make sense of the generic bloom time information available in books and catalogs.

Dendranthema morifolium 'Lucie's Pink'

Natureworks publishes a catalog every other year that describes the perennials (as well as flowering shrubs, vines, roses, grasses, and ferns) that we carry. This catalog is available to download from our website. Printed copies are  available for sale at the retail store and at off-site events.  

Nancy also teaches many in-depth classes during the winter and early spring on perennial garden design and care, as well as individual classes on specific subjects such as perennials for shade, perennials for wet areas, or deer resistant plants. Be sure to sign up for our weekly email or visit the Education section of our website regularly for the latest classes being offered. The Education section also lists free garden walks and workshops held at the garden center every week from April until the end of October.  Our weekly emails contain timely tips about what to do in the perennial garden as the season unfolds.

A lovely peony variety 'Nancy Nora'

We specialize in offering our customers perennial plants that will fit and thrive in just about any garden situation. Do you have a persistently dry area in the garden? Not a problem for Amsonia hubrichtii or Sedum sieboldii.  Perhaps deer come by for a nightly nibble in your shade garden.  If so, try Epimedium.  Do you long for fragrant plants to delight you as you stroll through the garden? Plant Peony ‘Nancy Nora’ or the wonderful woodland native Phlox divaricata ‘ Blue Moon’ .  Both the Natureworks Catalog as well as many of the Handouts in our Education section of the website contain comprehensive lists for these and many more categories of perennials.

By carefully selecting and combining plants based on their color, texture, form and bloom time, perennials can add drama and an ever changing color palette to even the simplest designs.  Our signature design style incorporates COLOR in every month of the growing season. In fact, people often tell us that they could tell Natureworks put in a particular garden in their neighborhood because of the constant color it displays! Be sure to visit often and explore the color on our benches and in our 13 demonstration gardens to see how perennials can make your garden beautiful AND exciting.

Persicaria, Physostegia and Monarda are a few of our favorites as seen here in our roadside garden bed.

A Few of our Favorite Perennials:

Allium senescens – Ornamental Chives

Aster novae-angliae ‘Fanny’ – New England Aster

Brunnera macrophylla – Perennial Heartleaf Forget-Me-Not

Campanula poscharskyana ‘Blue Waterfall’ – Bellflower

Dendranthema ‘Lucie’s Pink’ – Perennial Chrysanthemum

Geranium ‘Rozanne’ – Cranesbill Geranium

Helenium ‘Mardi Gras’ – Helen’s Flower

Helianthus salicifolius ‘First Light’ – Willow leaf Sunflower

Helleborus- Christmas/Lenten roses of every kind!

Iris cristata – Crested Iris

Lathyrus vernus – Spring Vetchling

Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Firetail’ - Fleeceflower

Rudbeckia subtomentosa ‘Henry Eilers’ – Sweet Coneflower

Salvia nemerosa ‘Caradonna’ – Meadow Sage

Veronica penduncularis ‘Georgia Blue’ - Speedwell