Hylotelephium erythrostictum 'Frosty Morn'

Garden plants don't often make you think of morning fog rolling through a Cascade valley, but Hylotelephium erythrostictum 'Frosty Morn' manages it with ease. The leaves are variegated: soft medium green at the center edged in crisp creamy white, with the occasional pink blush where the margins catch the sun. The variegation is clean and consistent, not muddy — the kind that holds up through the whole growing season and looks fresh even by late summer. It grows upright to 18 to 24 inches, with pink flowers appearing in late summer that add a warm note to all that cool variegation.

Hardy to Zone 4, 'Frosty Morn' earns a place in PNW gardens for its four-season interest — the foliage is the main event from spring through fall, and the dried flower heads provide winter structure. Well-drained soil is the standard requirement. It works well as a focal point in a mixed perennial border, as a contrasting element beside dark-leaved companions, or as a container plant where the variegation can be appreciated up close. In the filtered light of an overcast Pacific Northwest morning, those frosty white margins really do live up to the name.