Plant Profile: Sapphire Tower (Puya alpestris)
Karen Sapphire Tower is a succulent native to the Chilean Andes and in the pineapple family. It produces a rosette of arching gray-green leaves with backward pointing spines on their margins.…
Plant Profile: Purple Poppy Mallow (Callirhoe involucrata)
Native to the fields and prairies of central US, this mat-forming herbaceous perennial is a member of the mallow family, Malvaceae, that also includes hollyhock, hibiscus, and coffee. It grows…
Plant Profile: Flannel Bush (Fremontodendron californicum)
Flannel bush is an evergreen shrub or small tree native to California, Arizona, and Baha Mexico where it may found in canyons and on mountain slopes in chaparral and open…
Plant Profile: Coyote Brush (Baccharis pilularis)
This evergreen shrub is native to coastal California and Oregon and is found in chaparral but is often used as a ground cover and to stabilize slopes. It is a…
Plant Profile: Sea Buckthorn ( Hippophae rhamnoides)
Grown in China for twelve centuries for its medicial uses this spiny deciduous shrub may become the next health food fad but is a useful garden plant too. The outstanding…
Plant Profile: Mountain Bluet (Centaurea montana)
Also known as perennial bachelor’s button and montane knapweed, this clump forming herbaceous perennial is native to the upper montaine and sub-alpine zones of Europe where it grows in meadows…
Plant Profile: White Gaura (Gaura lindheimeri) ‘Whirling Butterflies’
Native to Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, this herbaceous perennial is a member of willowherb family, the Onagraceae, that also includes evening primrose, fushia, and clarkia. Plants have a taproot and…
Plant Profile: Blue Fescue (Festuca glauca aka F. cinerea aka F. ovina)
Also known as sheep’s fescue, this cool season perennial grass was orginally native to Europe but has been bred for color, texture, flowering habit, and size and now is represented…
Plant Profile: Butterfly Weed (Ascelpias tuberosa)
This clump-forming, long-lived, herbaceous perennial is native to eastern North America where it tends to grow on dry soil in full sun . It is a member of the dogbane…