OK, it's been a long long time since i've posted here, but i had to come back to tell you all of my new favorite perennial.

Lynchis (x arkwrightii 'Vesuvius' in particular) is a great performer, before, during and after flowering and if you deadhead it, you get two batches of blooms.

Before? Fantastic germination rates! Great chocolatey-purple leaves that put a nice difference to all the green during april and may.

During? Fantastic BRIGHT red blooms that glow and don't fade all during the season. And, as mentioned, treat them right and you get two shows. Also, these are non-invasive and stay in nice, neat clumps, each year getting taller, up to about a foot. So, if you are the "Formal" type of gardener, know this is not a messy plant.

After? LOTS of seeds you can bring indoors and start trays with in March, easy to maintain and you still have the nice dark leaves until frost.

What more could you want out of a perennial except that it was nearly impossible to find retail and I had to do trays in order to get them.

When i get a chance, i'll post a picture link to show mine off...