Zone 5 Plants offered by Jolly Lane Greenhouse
	Hakanechloa macrea 'Aureola' This 12" Japanese grass provides dramatic color and texture to any part-sun garden.
	Persicaria 'Red Dragon' Deep, maroon and sliver leaves and red stems accent this 24" perennial groundcover. Part-shade.
	Corydalis Lutea (Yellow Bleeding Heart) 12" perennial. Part-shade. All season bloom.
	Origanum Laevigatum 'Herrenhausen' Shrubby perennial with outstanding mauve pink flowers in late summer to fall.
	Callicarpa Dichotoma (Beauty Berry) This vintage shrub is primarily grown for the lovely contrast of violet berries and golden foliage in autumn. The rounded 4 ft. shrub is attractive and easy to incorporate into the perennial border. Sun-part shade.

The search for new and exciting landscape gardening has encouraged some people to experiment with plants outside of the Zone 5 of the Black Hills. The successes and failures they experience are just part of the game and add to the challenge of gardening in the Black Hills area.

Many have enjoyed success with Zone 5 plant material for years and reaped the joys of having a beautiful foliage or bloom to complement the staid Zone 3 to 4 plants that are the bones of western South Dakota gardens. The key to using the less hardy plants is to use them as specimens that you can take extra precautions with, to ensure that you have success.

Tender shrubs and perennials often require the extra effort of finding a good site or microclimate in your yard, soil amendments, meeting specific watering needs, and mulching. The summer climate in western South Dakota can be very dry and windy and the winters are often very cold with yo-yo temperatures and a complete lack of snow cover for late season. A 3-4" layers of mulch will help to even out temperature and moisture fluctuations. Additional mid-winter applications of straw, pine boughs or pine needles to a depth of 12" with help to prevent desiccation caused by winds and little snow cover.

Cold hardiness zones that publications print are relative to other factors besides just the average temperatures over the past 25 years. Snow cover, likelihood of early or late frosts, rainfall (moisture available to the plant) and protection all should be figured into the bigger picture when choosing plant material in any zone.

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