I keep lists of plants I’m on the hunt for in various places—on sheets of paper in my purse, in an app on my phone, at the back of my garden notebook. This way I remember to grab them if I find them at a local nursery.

Each year there are a handful of plants that I get really hung up on for whatever reason. Here are three that I’m hoping to add to my garden this year.

BOUTELOUA GRACILIS ‘BLONDE AMBITION’

Monrovia photo

The first is a grass. I’m fussy about grasses. I’ve been through the ringer with less-than-well-behaved grasses in the past, so I choose them carefully. The one that I’m currently lusting after, a blue grama grass with a great name—Bouteloua gracilis ‘Blonde Ambition’—caught my eye several years ago. It is a nice size plant—super tall grasses make me jittery—and has the most charming seed heads that sit perpendicular to the stems. The whole thing makes for an interesting plant. Of course those cute seed heads can turn into a nightmare but everything I’ve read says this is easy to control from a reseeding standpoint. I’ve struggled to find it in the past, but it seems to be popping up in many more places so I hope it will find a home in my garden this year.

Zone 4-9
Size: 30 to 36 inches tall and wide
Available online at: High Country Gardens, Plant Delights Nursery, Monrovia, Santa Rosa Gardens, among others 

GEUM TRIFLORUM

Paul Drobot photos

The next is a plant that has popped up quite a bit on this blog lately: Geum triflorum. This is another one that’s been on my radar for some time, as almost every garden I’ve toured seems to have them. And Proven Winners horticulturist Stacey Hirvela told me she can’t imagine having a garden without it. Bonus points for the fact that it’s native in much of the northern U.S., is a pleasant but not aggressive reseeder that will gradually work its way around and a gold star for it looking great for much of the year.

Zone 3-8
Size: 6 to 18 inches
Available online: Prairie Nursery, High Country Gardens, and as seeds

ACHILLEA

‘Richard Nelson’, Bluestone Perennials photo

‘Terra Cotta’, Bluestone Perennials photo

I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but the next plant on my must-have list is Achillea millefolium. You know … yarrow. The plant that everyone has had in their garden forever. I feel like I have to defend my reasoning for not growing this plant before. I’m certain it has everything to do with the goldenrod yellow color I most typically associate with this plant. That harsh shade of yellow has never been a favorite of mine (even though I sometimes don’t mind it in early autumn). That combined with the sort of loose habit of Achillea always made me think “weed” when I saw it.

But guess what? Achillea is so much more than that. Cultivars range from an easy-on-the-eyes lemon yellow to shocking pink, dark red, peach or orange. Some are more compact than others, which also appeals to me and all are said to be very attractive to pollinators.

A few varieties that are worth a look:

• ‘Apricot Delight’: Pretty peach color and growing just 18 to 24 inches tall. 
• ‘Pretty Woman’: Cherry red growing to 22 to 24 inches tall. 
• ‘Sunny Seduction’: A light, pleasant (to my eye) yellow.