Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Echium vulgare

Family: (Boraginaceae)

(B) to 3-½’.  Viper’s Bugloss.  Europe.  Rosettes of slender, bristly foliage from which arise many stout flowering spikes with funnel-shaped flowers along their length.  The buds start off pink, then the five-petalled flowers turn the most exquisite shades of intense blue to violet with five protruding red stamens.  As the flowers fade, they become tinged with crimson. Viper’s Bugloss is one of the best plants to attract bees to your garden by producing nectar throughout the day unlike most plants which only produce nectar for a short period of time.  Sun.  3 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Oenothera elata subsp. hirsutissima

Family: (Onagraceae)

(P) to 4′.  Hairy Evening Primrose.  Western North America.  From a basal rosette of leaves, reddish flowering stalks arch up and have grey-green, lance-like, hairy leaves with white veins. The unbranched inflorescence bear flowers that open from the bottom up. The beautiful two-to four-inch-wide fragrant, yellow flowers open about an hour before sunset and wither the next morning.  Each flower has four large, heart-shaped petals, four smaller sepals that appear fused in pairs, and a prominent X-shaped stigma that extends out beyond the petals and eight stamens. Pollinated particularly by Hawk or Sphinx Moths during the night. Sun.  3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Clematis serratifolia

Family: (Ranunculaceae)

Hardy vine to 9′.  Korean Clematis.  A graceful Clematis with ovate to lanceolate, serrated leaves that sets forth a succession of soft yellow, nodding bells with violet stamens.  The flowers have a delicate lemon scent and bloom from August to October.  An added delight is the fluffy, white, snowball seed heads that cover the plant until winter. A stunning beauty for the late summer garden.  Sun/partial shade.  3 & 7 for 8 weeks, then T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Aethionema schistosum

Family: (Brassicaceae)

(P) to 6″.  Turkish Stone Cress.  Turkey and Lebanon.  Erect, woody stems with narrow, blue-green foliage produce rounded heads of rosy lilac, four-petalled flowers in early summer.  Interesting multi-coloured, flat seed capsules follow and persist.  A welcome self-sower.  Sun.  3 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Papaver rupifragum

Family: (Papaveraceae)

(P) to 20″.  Spanish Poppy. Solitary, crepe-like, four-petalled, soft orange flowers are 1-½ inches across and held on wiry stems.  The flowers appear to float above the basal rosettes of sparsely hairy, grey-green, pinnately lobed leaves.  Long-blooming.  Well-drained soil.  Sun.  4 & T2, cover and keep dark

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Papaver atlanticum

Family: (Papaveraceae)

(P) to 2′.  Moroccan Poppy.  Soft orange, two-inch, single, tissue paper blooms with yellow anthers are followed by club-shaped pods.  Pale green, silken, jagged basal leaves.  Self-sows beautifully.  Sun.  4 & T2, cover and keep dark

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Crambe maritima

Family: (Brassicaceae)

(P) to 2′.  Sea Kale.  Coastal North Europe, Baltic and Black Seas.  Often grown as a vegetable, however, we like it in the mixed border.  The early emerging foliage is flushed deep purple; this is the edible stage.  The unfurled leaves are wide, wavy, lobed, and glaucous providing an attractive foil  for the large panicles of honey-scented, white, four-petalled flowers.  Long summer bloomer.  Well-drained soil.  Sun.  3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Aquilegia vulgaris var. stellata 'Nora Barlow'

Family: (Ranunculaceae)

(P) to 2.5′.  This beautiful cultivar that honours Charles Darwin’s granddaughter is in fact an old, unusual type of double-flowered, spurless Columbine known as far back as the 16th century.  A short-lived but self-seeding perennial with rose-pink, green-tinged flowers arranged in perfect symmetry.  Sun/partial shade.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Leonotis menthaefolia

Family: (Lamiaceae)

(TP) to 2′.  Mint-leaved Lion’s Ear.  South Africa.  Vibrant, warm orange, tubular flowers are held in whorls.  Small, serrated leaves have a pungent, spicy fragrance, reminiscent of Agastache.  A long blooming, compact Lion’s Ear perfect for containers.  Overwinter in a frost-free conservatory.  Summer through to fall.  Sun.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Ennealophus euryandrus (syn. Herbertia euryandra)

Family: (Iridaceae)

Tender bulb to 12″.  Argentina.  This Iris relative has pleated linear to lanceolate leaves.  Intriguing, blue to violet flowers with three large, broadly spreading, triangular to obovate, outer tepals with white markings at the base…they look like an airplane propeller.  The three smaller, inner tepals are rounded, erect and reflexed, with a spot of orange on the reflex.  In the centre, the trifid, white stigma is showy and heavily clefted, with the stamens held below.  The flowers only last for part of a day. Grows on humid slopes near the forest’s edge but nicely for us in a pot.  3 & T2