Plant Profile: Common Sunflower (Helianthus annus)
Karen Although there are many perennial sunflowers there is only one annual that is garden worthy but that one has dozens of cultivars and is very popular. A native of western…
Plant Profile: Japanese Spurge (Pachysandra terminalis)
Native to Japan and north-central China, this evergreen herbaceous perennial also called carpet box, is a member of the boxwood family, Buxaceae. It grows 8-12″ tall from a rhizomateous root…
Plant Profile: Rubber Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus aka Ericameria nauseosus)
Rubber rabbitbrush is a deciduous shrub and a member of the aster family, Asteraceae, that also includes daisies, yarrow, and lettuce. It is naive to the western third of the…
Plant Profile: Pineleaf Beardtongue (Penstemon pinifolius)
Native to southern New Mexico and Arizona, this long-lived evergreen perennial or subshrub is a member of the plantain family, Plantaginaceae, that also includes snapdragon, turtlehead, and foxglove. The compact…
Plant Profile: Four Angled Sundrop (Oenothera tetragona)
This short-lived perennial is native to eastern North America where it is found in open places and along woodsides. It is a member of the willowherb familiy, Onagraceae, that also…
Book Review: A Journalist’s Book of Wildflowers
Karen Meyers Laura C. Martins’s book, A Naturalists Book of Wildlflowers, provides a fresh, new look at wildflowers. Written to resemble the author’s field journals, the book includes notes, sketches, ideas and…
Plant Profile: Hybrid Japanese Anemone (Anemone x hybrida)
Hybrid Japanese anemone is a herbaceous perennial often sold as A, japonica. It is a member of the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, that also includes delphinium, clamatis, and hellebore. Plants form…
Plant Profile: Lebanon Stonecress (Aethionema coridifolium aka A. jacunda aka Iberis jacunda)
Native to the mountains of southern Turkey and Lebanon this evergreen compact subshrub is a member of the mustard family, Brassicacea, that also includes broccoli, cabbage, and asylum. It grows…
Plant Profile: Fern Bush (Chamaebatiavia millefolium)
Also known as desert sweet, this sweetly-aromatic semi-deciduous shrub is native to western US from Oregon to California, east to Idaho, Utah, and Arizona where it grows in scrub, woodland,…
Plant Profile: Oleander (Nerium oleander)
Oleander is an evergreen shrub or small tree and a member of the dogbane family, Apocynaceae, that also includes blue star (Amsonia), periwinkle (Vinca), and milkweed (Ascelpius). Its native range…