Plant Profile: Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum)
Karen A native of Greece and western Asia, the opium poppy is the oldest poppy in cultivation, dating back to ancient Sumerian times, 4000 BC. The ancient Minoans, 2000-1450 BC, made…
Plant Profile: ‘Gage’s Shadow’ Perilla (Solenostemon x perilla)
A tall annual, ‘Gage’s Shadow’ perilla has purple green foliage that is a great backdrop for many plants especially pink flowered ones. It has excellent heat and humidity tolerance and…
Plant Profile: Godetia/Farewell to Spring (Clarkia amoena)
A native of Chile and western North America from San Francisco to British Columbia, this annual was named for Captain Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition fame. It thrives…
Plant Profile: Mexican Sunflower ‘Fiesta Del Sol’ (Tithonia rotundifolia ‘Fiesta del Sol’)
‘Fiesta del Sol’ is the first truly dwarf Mexican sunflower topping out at 2½’ instead of 5-6’ like other varieties. The plants thrive in heat and humidity, are drought tolerant,…
Plant Profile: Zahara ‘Starlight Rose’ Zinnia (Zinnia marylandica Zahara ‘Starlight Rose’)
If you have been browsing zinnias lately you may have noticed the bicolor ones. ‘Starlight Rose’ has 2½” flowers with white petals surrounding a rose center that grows more intense.…
Plant Profile: Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus)
There are few flowers that can light up a their surroundings like nasturtiums can. Their intensely colored flowers in red, yellow and orange add zip to any garden border and…
Plant Profile: Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia rotundiolia)
When I stand next to my flowering Mexican sunflower plant I feel like Jack with his beanstalk. The plant towers over me and grew to such heights in just a…
Plant Profile: Star flower (Pentas lanceolata)
I had never heard of pentas until I came to North Carolina a few years ago and now I hear about them, read about them and see them everywhere. They…
Plant Profile: Globe Amaranth (Gomphrena globosa) ‘Strawberry Fields’
Globe amaranth is an annual in the amaranth family, Amaranthaceae, that also includes Russian thistle, beet, and spinach. Native to Texas and Mexico, it grows 1-3′ tall, depending on the…
Plant Profile: Wishbone flower (Torenia fournier)
I first met this charming plant in a small nursery in Annapolis MD, run by a husband and wife who seemed to love plants. They had all sorts of annuals…