Plant Profile: White Flowering Currant (Ribes indecorum)
Karen Also called white chaparral currant, this deciduous shrub is native to Baha California and coastal areas of California. It is a member of the currant family, Grossulariaceae, that consists of…
Plant Profile: Bunchleaf Penstemon (Penstemon heterophyllus)
Also known as foothills penstemon and foothills beardtongue, this evergreen herbaceous perennial is endemic to California where it grows in grassland, chaparral, and forests of all of the major coastal…
Plant Profile: Woolly Bluecurls (Trichostema lanatum)
Native to dry slopes of south coast ranges of California and northern Baja, this evergreen shrub is a member of the deadnettle family, Lamiaceae, that also includes mint, rosemary, and…
Plant Profile: Spotted Emu Bush (Eremophila maculata)
Also known as spotted fushia-bush, this evergreen shrub is endemic to southern Australia, and a member of the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae, that also includes mullein, butterfly–bush, and Diascia. The plants…
Plants for a Plant Zoo: Cardinal Vine (Ipomoea multifida)
If you like dainty red flowers on a lacy, fern-like vine, you will love cardinal vine. But watch out; if you plant it in a spot that it likes you…
Plant Profile: Chilean Bellflower (Lapageria rosea)
Native to damp coastal woodlands of Chile and Argentina, this twining evergreen vine is a member of the Philesiaceae, a small family endemic to Chile. The plants grow over 30′…
Evergreen Vines for Shady Sites
Shady wall often offer cool moist conditions that sites in full sun do not. Some climbers can tolerate sun, some full shade, but few thrive in all three equally. Most…
Plant Profile: Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
Buttonbush, also called honey-bells and button-willow, is a deciduous shrub or small tree native to wetlands such as swamps, marshes, riverbanks, and floodplains from New Brunswick and Minnesota south to…
Plant Profile: Weeping Butterfly Bush (Buddleja lindleyana)
This deciduous shrub is native to China but has naturalized in southeastern US where it can form substantial thickets by means of stolons. It has cinnamon colored trunks and dark…
Plant Profile: Indian Pink (Spigelia marilandica)
Indian Pink is a clump-forming perennial native to southeastern US and parts of the Midwest where it thrives in moist woodlands. The glossy green leaves are lance-shaped to ovate, one…