Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Verbascum chaixii Mix

Family: (Scrophulariaceae)

(P) to 4′.  Europe and Russia.  A delightful blend of yellow and white Nettle-leaved Mullein. Grey-green, felted, and corrugated leaves form basal rosettes from which rise spire-like, unbranched stems with terminal racemes of five-lobed, flattish, one-inch, yellow or white flowers with violet stamens.  Very versatile.  Mid-summer. Sun.  4 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Papaver rupifragum ‘Flore Pleno’

Family: (Papaveraceae)

(P) to 18″.  Double Spanish Poppy. This charmer made its first appearance on our Order Beds this year.  Many-petalled, rich orange, three-inch flowers on wiry stems float above rosettes of downy, grey-green, pinnately cut, oblanceolate leaves.  Long-blooming.  Well-drained soil.  Sun.  4 & T2, cover and keep dark

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Echinacea pallida

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 3′.  Central and eastern United States.  An ethereal form of the Purple Coneflower with thinner, languid, elongated petals of the softest pale pink.  Sun.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Cleome lutea (syn. Peritoma lutea)

Family: (Cleomaceae)

(A) to 3′.  Yellow Bee Plant.  Western US.  Along erect stems are widely spaced palmate, compound, leaves made up of three to five small leaflets.  Showy, four-petalled, saffron yellow flowers crowd together in a dense, terminal raceme.  Each flower has oblong petals around a cluster of long, slender stamens. This long-flowering plant may have blooming flowers at the top of the stem and ripening seed capsules dangling off the stem further down.  A great food source for bees, wasps and butterflies – rich in nectar and pollen.  Spring to summer blooming.  Sun.  PC- weeks, 3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Agastache nepetoides

Family: (Lamiaceae)

(P) to 5′.  Yellow Giant Hyssop.  South Canada to Southeast US.  Whorls of tiny, greenish-yellow flowers closely packed into five-inch terminal spikes appear on stiff, square stems. Toothed, arrowhead-shaped leaves are up to five inches long. Whilst the leaves lack the strong smell like other species in the mint family, the bitterness of its leaves make it deer resistant.  Tolerant of summer heat and humidity, this late summer bloomer is a favourite of bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.  Grows best in rich, open woodlands. Sun/partial shade.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Ixiolirion tataricum subsp. pallasii

Family: (Ixioliriaceae)

Hardy bulb to 16″.  Lavender Mountain Lily.  Asia minor, Afghanistan and Syria circa 1821. This deer- and-rodent resistant naturalizer has slender stems topped with loose umbels of a dozen or so flowers that range from light to deep violet-blue flowers with paler mid-veins and grass-like foliage. They start funnel-shaped and then open into large star-shaped flowers. It makes a terrific cut flower.  Sun, well-drained soil.  A star at the Order Beds.  Blooms late-spring.  3 and 40º for 2-3 months, then T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Euonymus europaeus

Family: (Celastraceae)

Hardy shrub to 15′.  Spindleberry.  Europe.  A familiar shrub of British hedgerows.  A vigorous, green-stemmed shrub covered in autumn with scarlet capsules which open to reveal the orange-coated white seeds.  Rather small, narrow leaves with excellent reddish fall colour whilst fruiting.  Sun/partial shade.  3 & 6

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Tulbaghia violacea

Family: (Alliaceae)

Tender bulb to 2′.  Society Garlic.  Southern Africa. The genus was named for Ryk Tulbagh (1699-1771), one time governor of The Cape of Good Hope.  Clump-forming, narrow, strap-shaped, gray-green leaves to 12 inches tall have a strong garlic smell when bruised. In early summer, flowering scapes rise bearing terminal umbels of sweetly fragrant, lilac-pink flowers. Each flower is comprised of six narrow tepals, tubular at the base that open to a star shape. A characteristic of Tulbaghia is the modified “corona” in the centre of the flower.  This is a raised crown-like structure, but not “entire” like the trumpet of a Daffodil, this corona has only three raised fleshy protuberances on three of the tepals in the centre of the flower.  Flowers and leaves are edible and may be used in soups and salads.  Long lived in a pot.  Sun.  3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Merendera sobolifera

Family: (Colchicaceae)

Tender bulb to 1″.  Eastern Europe to Central Asia.  Dainty, six-petalled flowers of pale pink to rosy lilac appear in early spring from stout, horizontal, underground stolons.  The linear, grey-green leaves appear after flowering and die back during summer dormancy.  Best grown in a pot to view at eye level .  Sun.  3 & T3, then may need 40º for 2-3 months.

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Schivereckia podolica

Family: (Brassicaceae)

(P) to 6”.  Eastern Europe.  A delightful, textured, ground-hugging mound for the rock garden.  Tight rosettes of grey-green, lanceolate foliage producing corymbs of brilliant white, four-petalled flowers.  Sun.  3 & T1