Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Eriophyllum lanatum

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 18″.  Oregon Sunshine.  W. North America.  This compact perennial forms a low cushion of silvery leaves up to 3 inches long that are irregularly divided into narrow lobes.  Both stems and leaves are covered with white hairs.  Brilliant golden-yellow daisy-like flowers rise on long, grey stems. Blooms freely in summer and attractive to bees and butterflies.  Great in perennial borders, rock gardens and embankments.  Well-drained soil.  Full sun to part shade.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Anemone hupehensis var. japonica

Family: (Ranunculaceae)

(P) to 2-½’.  Japanese Anemone. Native to China, Japan.  Basal foliage clump to 12 inches tall is comprised of 3-parted, dark green leaves on long petioles. Each leaf has large-toothed margins and is softly pubescent beneath. Long, upright, wiry, graceful, branching flower stems rise well above the foliage clump bearing single, cup-shaped, apetalous, two-to-three-inch flowers. Each flower contains five to seven showy, rounded, pinkish-white to pale rose-mauve tepals with a contrasting green, button-like center containing a ring of yellow stamens. Flowers from midsummer to autumn. This hardy perennial is beautiful in the woodland garden or border and planted in masses.  Moist, fertile, humusy soil in sun or partial shade. 3 & 6 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Senna hebecarpa (sym. Cassia hebecarpa)

Family: (Caesalpiniaceae)

(P) to 6′.  Northern Wild Senna.  Eastern North America.  Bright yellow, pea-like, five-petalled flowers with dark brown anthers and a prominent ovary covered with long white hairs.  An erect, bushy shrub with grey-green to medium green compound leaves provides an interesting foliage display.  Attractive, four-inch long, segmented dark brown seed pods open to release its seed.  Blooms from July to September.  Well-drained soil.  Sun/partial shade.  1 & 3 & T3

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Hibiscus moscheutos subsp. palustris White

Family: (Malvaceae)

(P) to 7′.  Swamp Rose Mallow.  Eastern US.  A lovely white version of the above with a dark pink centre.  Late summer bloomer.  1 & 2B, then 3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Hibiscus moscheutos subsp. palustris Pink

Family: (Malvaceae)

(P) to 7′. Swamp Rose Mallow. Eastern US. It is hard to believe this robust, lush-foliaged plant with incredible saucer-sized, rose-pink, crepe-paper blooms is in fact a hardy native. Late to emerge in spring, but once they do, they grow quickly and so require a moist fertile soil to really thrive – the edge of a pond or marsh, rich in organic matter is ideal. Late summer bloomer. 1 & 2B, then 3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Araujia sericifera

Family: (Apocynaceae)

(TP) to 6′. Cruel Plant.  South America.  This twining, woody climber is another unique member of the Stonecrop plant collection.  The softly hairy, stalked leaves and loose cymes of waxy flowers belie its sinister relationship to its pollinators.  The five-petalled, white flowers are striped with two pink lines on each petal that act as a track to guide nocturnal moths toward the centre.  The sticky pollen then traps moth’s proboscides and holds them until they either escape or perish, ensuring the transfer of pollen within the flower.  An invasive species in many parts of the world, Araujia is not hardy here and thus can be safely cultivated as a handsome specimen for the warm glasshouse.  We bring our Araujia outside in the summer to enjoy its fragrant and showy flowers, and in the winter we enjoy the unique fruits under glass.  The large, leathery pods contain seeds tipped with a tuft of silky hairs, which give the plant its Latin species name of sericifera, meaning silk-bearing. Sun.  3 &T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Nigella damascena 'Miss Jekyll Blue'

Family: (Ranunculaceae)

(A) to 18″.  Love-in-a-Mist.  South Europe.  Soft, many-petalled, sky blue flowers are surrounded by curved, feathery bracts.  Upright stems covered with delicate, fern-like foliage make the blossoms appear to be floating on a misty green bed.  Fawn-coloured, inflated, papery seedheads are attractive when dried.  Sun.  3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Trachelium caeruleum

Family: (Campanulaceae)

(A or TP) to 3′.  Blue Throatwort.  Mediterranean.  Large, umbellate clusters on upright stems bear many small, five-petalled flowers dotted with a white exserted style that looks like a tiny white pin.  The flowers are a vibrant violet and lightly scented.  Attractive dark foliage is toothed with purple veins. A long bloomer that makes a great cut flower.  Sun with afternoon shade.  Well-drained soil.  4 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Azorina vidalii

Family: (Campanulaceae)

(TP) to 18″.  Azores Bellflower.  Azores.  Particularly interesting for the cool greenhouse. Thick fleshy deep green leaves give rise to a candelabra of two-inch waxy, dusky pink bells. Sun. 4 & T3

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Linaria triornithophora

Family: (Plantaginaceae)

(P) to 3′.  Three-Birds-Flying.  From Spain and Portugal.  Fascinating, long, single-spurred, lilac-purple flowers are speckled and etched with purplish black and a dab of yellow.  The flowers are arranged around the stems in groups of three, looking incredibly just like budgerigars, hence the common name.  Broad, grey-green, ribbed foliage clasps the stem.  Sun.  4 & T2