Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Cynoglossum amabile ‘Mystery Rose’

Family: (Boraginaceae)

(A) to 2.5′. Chinese Forget-me-not. We love this plant. This wonderful selection is smothered in dusty pink blossoms. A joy in the border. Sun.  3, D & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Cynoglossum dioscoridis

Family: (Boraginaceae)

(B) to 2.5′. Grey foliage remains basal the first year. Discrete, rosy blooms tinged with blue culminate at stem tips. Definitely a plant for the front of the border. Sun. 3 & T2, cover and keep dark.

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Cynoglossum officinale

Family: (Boraginaceae)

(B) to 3′.  Hound’s Tongue.  Europe.  Greyish green, silky foliage remains basal the first year.  Branched, one-sided cymes are covered with delicate, bell-shaped blooms of a dark, muted, reddish purple.  Traditionally used to treat leg ulcers, bites, and minor injuries.  This herb can be now found naturalized around older settlements.  Sun.  Well-drained soil.  3, D & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Emilia coccinea

Family: (Asteraceae)

(A) to 3′.  We love this selection of Tassel Flower.  A native of Tropical Africa that produces a profusion of orange to scarlet, thistle-like flowers in terminal corymbs.  Best if inter-planted or grown closely together.  A real beauty in our Red/Orange/Yellow Bed.  Sun.  3 & T3

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Hibiscus trionum

Family: (Malvaceae)

(A) to 2′.  Flower-of-an-Hour.  East Mediterranean.  Cup-like, two-inch, creamy yellow, five-petalled flowers with dark burgundy centres and orange stamens.  Inflated, translucent, five-sectioned seed pods with purple veins persist.  Simply beautiful.  Sun.  3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Impatiens balfourii

Family: (Balsaminaceae)

(A) to 5′. A lovely Himalayan Touch-Me-Not. Hooded, white flowers are flushed pink and display an inflated, elongated, incurving honey spur. The spurred sepal and connate anthers capping the stigma are unique. Seed capsules explode at a touch and self-sow readily. Carefree. Flowers all summer. Sun/partial shade. 3 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Impatiens glandulifera ‘Alba’

Family: (Balsaminaceae)

(A) to 7′. A Himalayan native with cool white flowers with short spurs on a many-branched, succulent plant. Long, spear-shaped leaves are sharply serrate. Tall, choice and beautiful. Moist soil. Self-sower. Partial shade. 3 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Mirabilis dichotoma

Family: (Nyctaginaceae)

(TP) to 3.5′.  Mexico.  An old-fashioned favourite, in cultivation since at least 1640, but now rarely seen.  Forms bushy clumps of dark green, heart-shaped leaves with many yellow, trumpet-shaped blooms all summer long.  We dig up the tuber and store like Dahlias.  Sun/partial shade.  4 & T3

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Mirabilis jalapa White

Family: (Nyctaginaceae)

(TP) to 2.5’. Four o’Clock, Marvel of Peru. Gardeners delight at the time-conscious way these flowers open at 4 p.m. Delicate trumpets of mottled white rest in calyx-like fused bracts, above fresh green, ovate leaves. Later, one can discover the black, artichoke-shaped seeds resting in place of the blooms. Sun/partial shade. 4 & T3

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Nicandra physalodes ‘Black Pod’

Family: (Solanaceae)

(A) to 4′. Shoo-fly Plant, Apple of Peru. A sturdy, free-flowering, wide-spreading annual with pale blue, bell-shaped flowers with a white central ring and a deep purple, five-pointed star at the very centre. Blooms throughout the summer. Decorative, papery, five-winged, green with black pods are great for drying. Sun. 4 & T2