Category: Seminum | Sub-Category: Pots/Garden (overwinter indoors)
Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Eucomis comosa
Family: (Asparagaceae)
Tender bulb to 12″. Pineapple Lily. South Africa. Fat, cylindrical racemes show off pendulous, cream or green flowers edged purple, with a pineapple-like tuft of leaves at the top of each thick stem. A magnificent, bulbous plant. A welcome late summer treat. Sun. 3 & T2
Category: Seminum | Sub-Category: Pots/Garden (overwinter indoors)
Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Tibouchina urvilleana
Family: (Melastomataceae)
(TP) to 12′. Princess Flower, Glory Bush. Brazil. The silky, saturated purple blooms are the best. These showy, five-petalled flowers appear on terminal, three-forked panicles and display long, purple stamens. Fresh green, ovate, and acute leaves have prominent, parallel veins and are felted with soft, white hairs. Cool temperatures cause the leaves to change colour to blushed peach to red. We have a handsome specimen in a warm greenhouse and we love adding smaller plants to the flower beds, and grow many in pots. Moist soil. Sun. 3 & T2
Category: Seminum | Sub-Category: Pots/Garden (overwinter indoors)
Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Puya chilensis
Family: (Bromeliaceae)
(TP) to 13′. An easy, “must-have” native to the arid hillsides of Central Chile. Dense, basal rosettes of pale green leaves reach up to three feet in length, and are amply equipped with hooked, leathery, marginal spines. In the wild, the flowers appear on stalks up to 10 feet tall atop which sits a three-foot long flowerhead. These prominent flowers have strident, green-yellow sepals, chartreuse petals, and bright yellow anthers. Our greenhouse specimen reaches a respectable five feet. Sun. 4 & T2, keep moist
Category: Seminum | Sub-Category: Pots/Garden (overwinter indoors)
Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Albuca bracteata (syn. Ornithogalum longibracteatum)
Family: (Asparagaceae)
Tender bulb to 3′. Pregnant Onion. South Africa. Beautiful spikes of white striped green, star-shaped flowers. The smooth, green bulb becomes very large and produces many bulbils attached to the sides of the mother bulb. These bulbils become flowering size very quickly. The foliage is two inches wide and a smooth, glossy green. An easy and fascinating houseplant. Sun. 3 & T3, then may need 40º for 2-3 months.
Category: Seminum | Sub-Category: Pots/Garden (overwinter indoors)
Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Narcissus serotinus
Family: (Amaryllidaceae)
Tender bulb to 10″. An autumn-flowering Mediterranean species with a white perianth and a minuscule, golden yellow corona. Light citrus scent. We grow it in our Pit House where it blooms for Thanksgiving. Charming and easy to raise from seed. Sun. 3 & T1
Category: Rarium | Sub-Category: Pots/Garden (overwinter indoors)
Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Lepechinia hastata
Family: (Lamiaceae)
Tender subshrub to 6′. Americas. The specific epithet hastata is descriptive of the large, arrow-shaped, velvety grey-green leaves for which this tender subshrub is grown. Of equal value are the ten-inch long flower spikes adorned with numerous, one-inch long, rosy purple flowers of classic “Lamium-esque” form, sitting upon smoky purple pedicels. A striking specimen for a sunny spot in your home. Blooms on and off throughout the year. Sun. 4 & T2
Category: Seminum | Sub-Category: Pots/Garden (overwinter indoors)
Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Heimia salicifolia
Family: (Lythraceae)
Tender shrub to 10′. Willow-leaved Heimia, Elixir of the Sun. South US, C & S America. This unusual plant has many slender, woody stems that are densely covered in mostly opposite, narrow, linear, green leaves. Small flowers have six, bright yellow, somewhat wrinkled, roundly obovate petals. The petals are attached to the rim of the tube-shaped floral cup with 12 stamens inserted low in the cup. The flowers arise from the leaf axils and bloom in profusion all summer. This plant is very accommodating – in the spring we plant it in our Flower Garden and Order Beds then dig it up in the fall. It never skips a beat. 4 & T2
Category: Seminum | Sub-Category: Pots/Garden (overwinter indoors)
Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Habranthus robustus
Family: (Amaryllidaceae)
Tender bulb to 8″. Rain Lily. A native of Argentina and South Brazil. The three-inch, Lily-like flowers, two per stem, are a blushed pink with darker veining and a green throat. Narrow, strap-like foliage. Grow Habranthus on a cool windowsill in well-drained soil. Easy. Sun. 3 & T2