This page features the plants that have been designated the Perennial Plant of the Year (PPOY). The PPOY are display in chronological order from the current year’s designated plant to previously designate plants. The plants are selected by the Perennial Plant of the Year Committee. Each year, the committee considers many plants. Committee members are passionate about their plant nominations and ardent debates about which plant deserves the designation occur.
To be selected as Perennial Plant of the Year, the plant must meet all the criteria:
suitable and reliable in Calgary growing conditions
not overused
readily available in garden centres
reasonably affordable to purchase
The Perennial Plant of the Year is announced at the Society’s spring gardening season launching event.
Antennaria dioica 2026 Perennial Plant of the Year
Common Name: Pussytoes
Pussytoes, (Antennaria dioica) has soft grey-green foliage with white undersides and small, fluffy, white to pink flowers that resemble the toes of a cat. It provides outstanding ground cover, only reaching a height of 5-7 cm and is ideal for borders and areas where the soft fuzzy texture can be noticed. Pussytoes is a hardy, low maintenance plant and is adaptable to a wide range of soil types. It takes readily to transplanting and will quickly establish itself in new areas.
Pussytoes combines well with small stature native perennials such as prairie smoke (Genum triflorum) or columbines, including Aquilegia canadensis and A. brevistyla. Pussytoes also looks good in front of ornamental grasses such as prairie dropseed (Sporabolus heterolepsis) and blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis).
Sanguisorba hakusanensis 'Lilac Squirrel" 2025 Perennial Plant of the Year
Common Name: Korean Burnet ‘Lilac Squirrel’
Native to the mountainous regions of Japan and Korea, the ‘Lilac Squirrel’ is a rare species of the Korean burnet (Sanguisorba hakusanensis ‘Lilac Squirrel’) and is easy to grow. It produces a 100 cm by 60 cm deciduous rosette of slightly glaucous, green, pinnate leaves, composed of smaller, delicately serrated leaflets. Tall, elegant stems appear mid-summer topped by slender, pendulous, soft, fuzzy lilac-pink catkins that resemble a squirrel’s bushy tail.
The ‘Lilac Squirrel’ has a dainty appearance that makes a statement when planted in a border, creating textural magic when paired with bolder foliaged companions. It is virtually pest and disease free and is an adaptable, beautiful plant.
Almost the first perennial of spring, Hepatica noblis features dainty, blue-purple simple flowers that bloom on short stalks before the new leaves are out, gladdening our hearts in the first tentative days of spring.
Hepatica also has the common names liverleaf, liverwort, and even squirrel cup.
A low-growing perennial, no more than 5–15 cm high, the flowers emerge first, providing that special delight to winter-weary gardeners. The flowers comprise 5–10 sepals in shades of blue-purple, though white or pink are possible, and three green bracts on short hairy stems. Once the flowers fade away, bright green new leaves appear that remain all season, darkening towards fall and, in favourable climes, remaining green over winter.
Penstemon ‘Dark Towers’ 2023 Perennial Plant of the Year
Common Name: Penstemon ‘Dark Towers’
The genus name of the plant is Greek in origin and reflects the structure of the flowers: each tubular, two-lipped bloom has five (penta) stamens (stemon). As for the common name “beardtongue”, one of the stamens in each flower is sterile and sports a few tiny hairs. The flowers appear on racemes in late spring into mid-summer, and are huge favourites with pollinating insects, particularly butterflies. Hummingbirds are also attracted to the blooms. If you are growing a cutting garden, these striking beauties will make an excellent addition to your fresh bouquets.
Plant ‘Dark Towers’ penstemon in odd-numbered groupings to best showcase the plant’s good looks. The basal foliage has a tidy, mounding growth habit and when grown in sufficient sunlight, the tall flower stems will not flop over. The plants grow relatively quickly, so do not space them too closely or you’ll be digging them up in no time to eliminate crowding.
