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63 Cards in this Set
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Agave victoriae-reginae
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Queen Victoria agave
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variable in form, but in general the rosettes are small and compact, growing to 0.5m, composed of short, rigid, thick leaves that are green with a pattern of distinctive white markings. The markings are generally along leaf keels or margins, giving a sort of polyhedral appearance. Marginal teeth are usually lacking, while the terminus of the leaf may include 1 to 3 spines, each 1.5–3 cm in length. Cream coloured flowers are borne in erect racemes up to 4m in length.
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Ageratum houstonianum
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Mexican ageratum; flossflower
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continuous bloom for beds, gardens or containers from late spring to frost. Features fluffy flowers (basically asters with ray flowers absent) in flattened to slightly rounded clusters atop compact, mounded plants generally ranging from 4” to 18” tall. Some taller varieties (e.g., the triploid ‘Blue Horizon’) are more erect and grow to as much as 30” tall. Species flowers are medium blue, however many cultivars are available in commerce in various shades of blue, pink, red, white and bicolor. Leaves are typically rounded, cordate-at-the-base, hairy, slightly quilted and soft green.
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Alocasia species and hybrids
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elephant ear
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leaves simple, long-stalked, large heart-shaped, prominently veined and sometimes variegated; flowers seldom seen, small, clustered on a spadix and surrounded by a modified leaf (the spathe) large cordate or sagittate leaves grow to a length of 20 to 90 cm on long petioles. Their araceous flowers grow at the end of a short stalk, but are not conspicuous; often hidden behind the leaf petioles.
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Alternanthera dentata
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calico plant; Joseph's coat
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noted for their rich purple to burgundy leaves. Native to the West Indies and Brazil, A. dentata is a generally upright plant that typically forms spreading foliage mounds to 12-30” tall. Although species plants feature linear-lanceolate to ovate, toothed green leaves (to 3.5” long), it is the purple-leaved cultivars that have become popular garden plants. Foliage is suggestive of coleus. White apetulous flowers appear in small axillary clusters in late fall to winter, but are insignificant. Flowers are usually observed houseplants or on container plants brought inside for overwintering.
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Angelonia angustifolia
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summer snapdragon
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upright, glabrous, somewhat bushy, tropical perennial that is noted for its long summer bloom of small snapdragon-like flowers. Plants typically grow 12-18” tall. Stems are clad with narrow, oblong to lanceolate, green leaves (to 3” long) with toothed margins. Foliage is slightly aromatic. Bluish-purple flowers (each to 3/4” across) bloom from late spring to early fall in narrow terminal spikes (to 8” long). The two-lipped flowers are somewhat reminiscent of snapdragon. Cultivars are available in white, blue, light pink and bicolor flower colors.
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Antirrhinum majus
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snapdragon
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will flower well from spring to fall. In climates with protracted hot summer weather, plants often tend to languish and may not last the entire growing season. The common name is in reference to the dragon-shaped, tubular, two-lipped, closed flowers that appear in terminal racemes. Many cultivars and hybrids in which A. majus is a prominent parent are available in commerce. Flowers come in a variety of both pastel shades and bright colors, including some bicolors, in shades of white, yellow, red, pink, orange, peach and purple. Lance shaped, glossy dark green leaves (to 3” long).
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Asparagus densiflorus Sprengeri group
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asparagus fern
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ornamental asparagus is a tuberous evergreen perennial that produces numerous arching stems (to 24” long) covered with linear, needle-like green leaves (.75 to 1” long). Plants usually develop weak prickles. Insignificant tiny white flowers in late spring to early summer are fragrant. Flowers are followed by small red berries. Sprengeri Group (emerald fern) and ‘Myersii’ (foxtail fern) are popular varieties available in commerce.
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Begonia x semperflorens-cultorum
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fibrous begonia; wax begonia
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compact, bushy, mounded, fibrous-rooted plant that features fleshy stems, waxy dark green to bronze leaves and loose clusters (cymes) of single or double flowers in shades of white, pink or red plus bicolor versions thereof. Flowers reliably bloom throughout the growing season (May to October). Dwarf varieties grow to 6-8” tall and taller varieties grow to 10-12” tall.
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Brassica oleracea
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ornamental kale
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Ornamental cabbage typically develops large rosettes of broad flat leaves and ornamental kale typically develops curly, ruffled leaves in a tight rosette. Leaf colors quite showy, ranging from white to cream, pink, rose, red and purple
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Browallia speciosa
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browallia
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shrubby, woody based perennial of the nightshade family that is native to tropical South America. When grown as an annual, it will typically rise to 2’ tall. Tubular, 5-lobed, purple-blue flowers (to 2” wide) with white centers bloom singly or in small clusters in the upper leaf axils from late spring to fall. Ovate pale green leaves (to 3” long). Genus name honors Swedish botanist Johan Browall
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Caladium bicolor
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caladium
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Caladiums (sometimes commonly called angel wings) are arum family members that are grown exclusively for their bold and colorful foliage. Calla-type flowers, if present, are usually hidden. Plants typically grow in clumps to 1-2.5' tall. Arrowhead-shaped leaves (to 1.5' long) are various shades of green mottled and blotched with pink, red, white or combinations thereof often with distinctively colored veins. Synonymous with C. x hortulanum.
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Calendula officinalis
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pot marigold; calendula
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daisy or chrysanthemum-like bright yellow to deep orange flowers which in cool climates appear over a long summer to fall bloom period. Cultivars expand the available flower colors to include many pastel shades and some bicolors. Single to double flowerheads (3-4” diameter) may have contrasting darker center disks. The species is an Old World potherb and garden plant that was quite popular in England at the time of Shakespeare. It typically grows 1-2’ tall and as wide. Although the flowers and leaves are somewhat bitter tasting, they are edible and may be added fresh or dried to soups, salads or rice dishes for both color and flavor. Aromatic, lance-shaped to oblong-obovate green leaves (to 6” long).
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Calibrachoa hybrids
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trailing petunia; calibrachoa
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Calibrachoa or trailing petunia is a tender perennial which produces flowers that look like small petunias. These are compact, mounded plants which grow 3-9” tall on mostly trailing stems. Sometimes commonly called million bells, these plants are prolific bloomers that produce hundreds of 1” wide flowers from spring to frost.
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Catharanthus roseus
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vinca; rose periwinkle; Madagascar periwinkle
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erect to spreading tender perennial typically mounding 6-18” (less frequently to 24”) tall and as wide, attractive bushy foliage that is covered by an often profuse bloom of phlox-like flowers from summer to frost, Tubular flowers have five flattened petal-like lobes and appear singly in the upper leaf axils, species flowers are rosy-pink to red with mauve throats.
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Celosia argentea
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cockscomb; celosia
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erect, branching plants with oval or lance-shaped, strongly veined leaves 2-6 in (5.1-15.2 cm) long and hundreds of tiny flowers packed in dense, brightly colored flowerheads which usually stand above the foliage.
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Cleome hassleriana
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cleome; spider flower
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3-6’ tall on rigid stems. Dense elongated terminal racemes of pink, purple or white spider-like flowers with protruding stamens bloom from summer to frost. Flowers are sweetly fragrant. Flowers are followed by thin seed pods that ripen to brown before splitting open and dispersing the seed within. Aromatic, sticky, palmate green leaves with 5-7 lance-shaped leaflets have sharp spines at the base of each leaf stalk
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Cosmos sulphureus
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cosmos; yellow cosmos
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1-3’ tall, but can grow to as much as 6’ tall. It produces daisy-like flowers (to 2.5” diameter) with yellow discs and yellow rays. Leaves (to 12” long) are 2-3 pinnate with lanceolate leaflets
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Cuphea hyssopifolia
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Mexican heather; false heather
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rounded, densely branched 1-2’ tall tropical sub-shrub. It produces quaint, small, trumpet-shaped flowers with six spreading lavender petals and green calyx tubes. Flowers appear singly in the leaf axils along stems crowded with lance-shaped glossy green leaves (to 3/4” long). Blooms profusely summer to frost.
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Diascia hybrids
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twinspur
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delicate, frothy type of plant. Some varieties will spill over pots and other tend to grow more upright.
Small, oval shaped leaves are a dark green, flowers are small, but many. Colors include: pastels, vivid oranges and reds and deep plums. odd looking flower up close, There’s one long top petal that makes it look like the flower is sticking out its tongue. Below it are two side petals with horn or spur like projections, which give Diascia its common name of Twinspur. Under these is one more petal that holds the sex organs. |
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Eschscholzia californica
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California poppy
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ants grow in loose, free-branching mounds to 12-15” tall and as wide, with finely divided, fern-like, blue-green leaves. Single, cup-shaped, 4-petaled, silky flowers (3” diameter) are typically bright orange or less frequently yellow-orange. Flowers bloom on long stems from late spring to early summer. Flowers close up in rainy or cloudy weather and at night. Flowers give way to dehiscent seed capsules which split open when ripe to release seeds. Plant foliage turns straw-brown after flowering. Cultivars are available in semi-double to double forms in additional colors including white, pink, red, lilac and purple. Genus name honors Johann Eschscholtz (1793-1831), Estonian physician and naturalist, who served as ship’s physician on a Russian expeditionary ship that collected plants including this poppy in California in 1816.
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Exacum affine
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exacum; Persian violet
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he Persian violet is a 6 to 12 inch tall annual that is popular for its beautiful blue flowers and shiny green foliage. The tiny leaves of this rounded plant are ovate in shape and densely cover the stems. Lovely blue flowers with bright yellow pollen masses in their centers appear in the spring and summer. These fragrant flowers will densely clothe this plant if it is grown under the proper cultural conditions.
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Gazania rigens
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treasure flower; gazania
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decumbent stems that spread along the ground. Narrow but variably-shaped, dandelion-like leaves (narrow spoon-shaped to lobed) are silvery green. Flowering stems typically rise 6-10” tall topped by solitary, daisy-like ray flowers (to 3-4” wide) with contrasting center disks. Ray flowers of this species are orange with black eyes at the bases and with orange-brown disks. Hybrid cultivars (often listed as cultivars of this species) come in a great variety of additional colors including shades of yellow, orange, bronze or white often with contrasting color at the bases forming a ring around the center disk. Can bloom summer to fall, often to first frost. Flowers close at night and may only partially open up on cloudy days. Genus honors Theodore de Gaza, 15th century Greek Scholar.
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Gerbera jamesonii
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gerbera daisy; Transvaal daisy
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is a stemless, clump-forming, tender perennial. From a basal rosette of slender, spoon-shaped, often lobed or pinnatifid, dark green leaves (to 20” long) rise naked flowering stems to 12-18” tall, each stem bearing a solitary 4” daisy-like flower. Flowers are single or semi-double. Ray flowers of the species normally come in red, yellow and orange, but numerous cultivars have expanded the colors to also include white and numerous pastel varieties. Center disks are bronze-yellow. Blooms summer to fall. Genus honors Traugott Gerber, 18th century German doctor and naturalist.
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Gomphrena globosa
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globe amaranth
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Globe amaranth is a compact annual that typically grows 12-24” tall on upright branching stems. The true flowers are insignificant, tiny, white to yellow trumpets that are only visible close up. It is the bright magenta bracts arranged in globose, papery-textured, clover-like flowerheads that provide the real show in a long summer to frost bloom. Cultivars expand the range of flowerhead colors to include red, pink, purple, lilac, violet and white. Long lasting fresh cut flower. Excellent dried flower (an everlasting) that retains color well. Narrow oblong to elliptic green leaves (to 4” long).
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Graptophyllum pictum
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caricature plant
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foliage plant, tropical Old World shrub having purple or red tubular flowers and leaf markings resembling the profile of a human faceEvergreen shrub, 2 feet to 8 feet tall (60 cm-2.4 m), 2 feet to 5 feet in spread (60 cm-1.5 m); glossy, leathery, elliptic leaves, up to 6 inches long (15 cm)
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Helichrysum bracteatum
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strawflower
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In the greenhouse, the plants will bloom nonstop from 10 weeks after sowing and will continue to flower until frost gets them in the landscape. Flowers are papery and will reach up to 2.5 inches (6.5 cm) across. Flowers come in shades of yellow, orange, reds and whites. They are very showy.he 3 foot (0.9 m) tall plants have 5 inch (12.7 cm) long oblong-lanceolate leaves
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Hypoestes phyllostachya
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polka-dot plant; freckle plant
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Height x width: 12" x 9" Foliage: opposite, ovate and usually entire, 2" long, downy; spotted red, pink or white (green with red or pink spots for species) Flowers: terminal, spike-like racemes to 6" of tiny magenta to lilac flowers, seldom seen indoors
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Impatiens walleriana
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impatiens; sultana; busy Lizzie
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bushy, succulent-stemmed, spreading mound to 6-24” tall . flowers in various shades of pink, rose, red, lilac, purple, orange, white and bicolor versions thereof. Showy, slender-spurred, five-petaled (some doubles are available) flowers (1- 2 1/4” wide) typically cover the plants with colorful bloom from spring to frost. Single flowers have a distinctively flattened appearance. Ovate to elliptic leaves (to 3” long) are light green to dark green, sometimes with a bronze-red cast.
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Impatiens hawkeri
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New Guinea impatiens
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soft-stemmed plants with simple, pointed, lance-shaped leaves, often very colorful, especially during cooler temperatures.
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Ipomoea batatas 'Black Heart'
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Black Heart sweet potato vine
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Native to tropical America, sweet potato or sweet potato vine is a tuberous rooted tender perennial that has been cultivated for its orange-fleshed edible tubers for over 2000 years. It was reportedly brought back to Europe from the New World by Columbus. Today, the sweet potato is a popular root vegetable that is grown in vegetable gardens and as a commercial food crop throughout the world. Although species plants and varieties grown as food crops have somewhat attractive green foliage, it is the more recently introduced purple-, chartreuse- and variegated-leaved cultivars that have transformed this vegetable into a popular ornamental foliage plant. If grown as a ground cover, plant stems typically mound to 9” tall but spread by trailing stems to 8-10’ wide, rooting in the ground at the nodes as they go. Leaves of the ornamental varieties are heart-shaped to palmately-lobed (to 6” long) and come in bright green, dark purple, chartreuse and variegated (green with pink or white) colors. Although species plants produce pale pink to violet trumpet-shaped flowers, ornamental varieties usually do not flower.
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Ipomoea batatas 'Margarita'
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Margarita sweet potato vine
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Native to tropical America, sweet potato or sweet potato vine is a tuberous rooted tender perennial that has been cultivated for its orange-fleshed edible tubers for over 2000 years. It was reportedly brought back to Europe from the New World by Columbus. Today, the sweet potato is a popular root vegetable that is grown in vegetable gardens and as a commercial food crop throughout the world. Although species plants and varieties grown as food crops have somewhat attractive green foliage, it is the more recently introduced purple-, chartreuse- and variegated-leaved cultivars that have transformed this vegetable into a popular ornamental foliage plant. If grown as a ground cover, plant stems typically mound to 9” tall but spread by trailing stems to 8-10’ wide, rooting in the ground at the nodes as they go. Leaves of the ornamental varieties are heart-shaped to palmately-lobed (to 6” long) and come in bright green, dark purple, chartreuse and variegated (green with pink or white) colors. Although species plants produce pale pink to violet trumpet-shaped flowers, ornamental varieties usually do not flower.
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Kalanchoe thyrsiflora
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paddle plant; desert cabbage
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A succulent plant producing a stalk about 1m tall, dying back after flowering. It forms a basal rosette of large, rounded, fleshy stalkless leaves, which are grayish-green with red margins, covered with a white powdery bloom. The inflorescence is terminal and erect with densely clustered thyrse-like panicles of greenish waxy flowers with yellow recurved lobes, narrowly urn-shaped. Flowering from autumn to spring
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Lantana camara
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lantana
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upright frost-tender shrub that grows 3-6’ tall. It has escaped gardens throughout the world and is considered to be a noxious weed in many frost-free/tropical areas where it can rapidly spread to form dense thickets. It has naturalized in parts of the southern U.S. including southern Florida, the Gulf Coast and southern California. When grown in St. Louis, plants placed out in spring after last frost date may grow to as much as 3-4’ tall by the end of the summer. Tiny 5-lobed flowers in dense hemispherical clusters (to 2” diameter) bloom summer to fall. Flower colors include white, yellow, orange, red and purple, often mixed in the same cluster. Ovate, toothed, dark green leaves (to 4” long) are rough-wrinkled above. Leaves are aromatic when bruised.
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Lobelia erinus
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lobelia
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Edging lobelia is noted for its profuse bloom of intensely colored flowers. It comes in both upright and trailing varieties, typically growing to 4-9” tall. Loose clusters (racemes) of two-lipped, tubular flowers (to ½” across) bloom throughout the growing season in cool climates, but often decline significantly in St. Louis summers. Flowers have large, fan-shaped lower lips characteristic of the lobelias. Cultivars feature many different flower colors, including blue, violet, purple, red and pink, often with yellow or white eyes. Narrow, linear, serrate stem leaves (to ½” long) may be flushed with bronze.
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Lobularia maritima
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sweet alyssum
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Sweet alyssum is one of the easiest annuals to grow. It is a mat-forming plant that produces spreading mounds of well-branched stems clad with linear, lance-shaped, gray-green leaves (to 1” long). Plants typically grow 3-9” tall to 12” wide. Dense clusters of sweetly fragrant, tiny, white 4-petaled flowers cover the foliage mounds from spring to early summer. Flowering is often so profuse as to totally hide the foliage. Cultivars expand the flower color choice to include shades of pink, rose, lavender, purple and apricot. Synonymous with Alyssum maritimum.
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Melampodium paludosum
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melampodium
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Mirabilis jalapa
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four-o'clock
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leafy, shrublike, multi-branched perennials that produce flowers all summer long. The plants are erect and spreading, 2-3 ft (0.6-0.9 m) tall and just as wide. They have numerous branches and opposite, pointed leaves 2-4 in (5-10 cm) long. The fragrant flowers are borne singly or in clusters, and can be red, magenta, pink, yellow or white, sometimes with more than one color on the same plant. Bicolored flowers are also possible. Individual flowers are trumpet shaped, about an inch across at the end and about two inches long. They open in the evening and wilt the next morning, but the plants continue to produce new flowers from late spring 'till fall.
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Nicotiana alata
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flowering tobacco; nicotiana
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Spatulate basal leaves to 12” long are attached by distinctive winged petioles ( alata means winged). Upper stem leaves are much smaller and sessile. Flower Lime green, maroon red, white, yellow, pink, and crimson
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Ocimum basilicum
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basil; sweet basil; common basil
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Stems - To .75m tall, 4-angled, glabrous or sparsely hairy, branching, herbaceous, strongly aromatic.
Leaves - Opposite, petiolate, glabrous, entire or with a few coarse teeth, lanceolate, lanceolate-ovate or ovate. Inflorescence - Terminal clusters of whorled flowers (vertcilillasters). Flowers - Corolla white, bilabiate, to 1cm long. Stamens exerted beyond corolla. Calyx 5-lobed, upper lobe expanded into a lid or cap over others. |
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Ophiopogon japonicus
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dwarf lilyturf; mondo grass; monkey grass
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This super dwarf mondo grass is an ornamental grass which is closely related to Liriope. Forms a dense carpet only 1-2" high. Tiny, pale lavender flowers on short stalks in summer are often hidden by the leaves.
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Pelargonium x hortorum
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geranium; bedding geranium; zonal geranium
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Zonal geraniums are typically grown in the St. Louis area as bedding or container plants where they grow in shrubby mounds to 1-3’ tall. Hybrids are available in both F1 seed varieties (single flower types that flower the first year from seed and come true from seed) and vegetative varieties (semi-double to double types that are propagated by cuttings). Flowers appear in clusters (umbels) atop long flowering stalks throughout the growing season. Flowers come in a wide range of colors, including various shades of red, purple, pink, orange and white. Rich, medium green, rounded to kidney-shaped leaves usually but not always have dark circular zonal bands which give rise to the common name
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Pelargonium peltatum
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ivy-leaved geranium
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vy geraniums are tender perennials with somewhat brittle, trailing stems that spread to as much as 3’ wide. They feature thick, lobed, medium green, ivy-like leaves and clusters of single or double flowers in shades of red, pink, lilac or white. Flowers appear throughout the growing season. Many of the ivy geraniums sold in commerce today are hybrids in which P. peltatum is a main parent.
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Pentas lanceolata
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pentas; Egyptian star cluster
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Native from Yemen to East Africa, Egyptian star cluster or star flower is a tropical woody-based perennial or subshrub that grows 3-6’ tall in its native habitat, but more typically to 1-2’ tall in beds or containers in the St. Louis area. It is a many-branched, somewhat sprawling plant that features 4” wide rounded clusters (corymbs) of star-shaped flowers over a long summer to frost bloom. Elliptic to lanceolate dark green leaves (to 6” long). Flowers are pink, magenta, lilac or less commonly white.
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Petunia x hybrida
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petunia; garden petunia
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alternate, sometimes opposite on upper leaves, broad-ovate to cordate shaped, 1 1/2" to 3" long, covered with a viscid-pubescence, sticky
unnel-shaped corolla tube with a very broad limb, 2 to 5" across, color and form, single or double, solid or bicolor, fragrant, diversity of colors, multiflora or grandiflora, single multiflora is best in southspring to fall with decline in summer, frost tolerant; may consider using for an early spring flowering show (February to May) as it is frost tolerant, 6" to 18", round or trailing |
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Phlox drummondii
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annual phlox
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have sharp, pointed, lengthy, ciliated leaves with rounded flowers. The flowers are generally one-inch singles or double, with star shaped petals and a flatness. They have a light fragrance. The flowers mature to 8-10 inches x 8-10 inches.
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Portulaca grandiflora
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moss rose; portulaca
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ruffled, rose-like flowers (to 1” diameter) appearing on prostrate to slightly ascending stems that form a moss-like foliage mat, succulent that typically grows to 6-8” tall and spreads to 12” wide ingle, semi-double or double forms in colors including red, rose, orange, yellow, white and pastel shades thereof. Flowers do not open on cloudy or rainy days. Cylindrical, fleshy, medium green leaves (to 1” long) appear in clusters along reddish stems.
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Plectranthus forsteri
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plectranthus
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upright-spreading tender perennial that grows to 10” tall and spreads to 36” wide. Round, scallop-edged, light green leaves (to 4” long) with creamy white margins appear on reddish upright stems that trail with age. Leaves emit a mild citrus aroma when bruised. Tubular, two-lipped, tiny pale pink to white flowers bloom in racemes to 6” long in summer.
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Rudbeckia hirta
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black-eyed Susan; gloriosa daisy; yellow ox-eye daisy
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It is a coarse, hairy, somewhat weedy plant that features daisy-like flowers (to 3” across) with bright yellow to orange-yellow rays and domed, dark chocolate-brown center disks. Blooms throughout the summer atop stiff, leafy, upright stems growing 1-3’ tall. Rough, hairy, lance-shaped leaves (3-7” long).
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Salvia farinacea
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mealycup sage
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shrubby, clump-forming, tender perennial that typically grows 1.5-3’ tall on erect, branching, square stems. It features two-lipped, violet-blue flowers in 4-8” axillary and terminal racemes from summer to fall. Drooping, irregularly-serrate, ovate-lanceolate, gray-green leaves (to 3” long). Common name and specific epithet are in reference to the white powdery felting found on the upper stems and calyx (“mealy” means covered with powdery meal, “cup” is in reference to the calyx shape and farinacea comes from the Latin word for flour or meal).
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Salvia splendens
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scarlet sage; annual salvia
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clump-forming, tender perennial that typically grows to 1-2’ tall on square, upright stems. Features long-tubed, red-bracted, bright red flowers (to 2” long) in dense, erect, terminal racemes from summer to fall. Oval, serrate, dark green leaves (to 3” long).
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Sanvitalia procumbens
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creeping zinnia
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Creeping zinnia is a mat-forming annual that typically grows to 6” tall but spreads by procumbent stems to 12-18” wide or more. Features a summer to frost bloom of ¾” diameter miniature sunflowers with yellow to orange-yellow rays and dark purplish-brown center disks. Varieties come in single- and double-flowered forms. Creeping stems are clad with oval, medium green, zinnia-like leaves (to 2” long), hence the common name.
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Scaevola aemula
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fan flower
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sprawling evergreen perennial with ascending and/or procumbent stems. It typically grows to 9-18” tall and spreads to 24” wide. It thrives in hot, humid climates where it produces a non-stop bloom of dark blue fan-shaped flowers in the leaf axils on trailing stems throughout summer to first frost. Lanceolate to obovate, toothed green leaves (to 2” long).
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Senecio cineraria
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dusty miller
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The leaves are silver-gray and woolly, like felt. They are shallowly to deeply incised. In the latter case there can be many blunt tipped, sometimes almost fernlike, lobes. It can get up to 2 ft (0.6 m) tall with a slightly greater spread, but usually only gets half that size in a single season. If it does survive into its second summer, Senecio cineraria produces mustard yellow flower heads about 1 in (2.5 cm) across in loose, terminal, flat topped clusters (corymbs, actually), about 4 in (10.2 cm) across. The flowers are the best way to distinguish Senecio cineraria from all the other dusty millers, but unfortunately, most gardeners never see the flowers.
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Senecio mandraliscae
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blue chalk sticks
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succulent from South Africa that grows to 12 to 18 inches tall with 3 to 4 inch long blue gray pencil-like fleshy leaves and small rayless dull white flowers in mid-summer. Forms a dense mat with leaves angled upward from the ground.
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Sutera grandiflora
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bacopa
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woody perennial from tropical regions of Africa. The plant is known for its aromatic leaves and its ability to produce large clusters of small purple flowers. Commonly known as Wild Phlox, Sutera grandiflora grows as a mound forming plant up to 1.5 meter and produces large groups in wild
woody perennial from tropical regions of Africa. The plant is known for its aromatic leaves and its ability to produce large clusters of small purple flowers. Commonly known as Wild Phlox, Sutera grandiflora grows as a mound forming plant up to 1.5 meter |
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Setcreasea pallida
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purple heart (syn. Tradescantia)
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popular trailing house plant is also a pretty durable groundcover or accent plant to about 18 inches tall in the garden. It has 1 to 2 inch long, narrow pointed purple leaves along thick herbaceous stems and small three petaled purple-pink flowers among the leaves in the summer. leaf color varies with amount of sun
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Solenostemon scutellarioides
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coleus (formerly Coleus)
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The variously shaped leaves of these popular bedding plants typically combine several colors, such as chartreuse, rust red, cream, and purple-black. Some cultivars sport almost all of these colors combined. The darker the red in the leaf, the more sun the plant will tolerate. Coleus blooms in summer, but the blue to white nettle-like flowers are unremarkable and tend to detract visually from the impact of the foliage.
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Strobilanthes dyerianus
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Persian shield
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soft-stemmed, tropical, evergreen shrub or subshrub that is grown primarily for its attractive iridescent purple foliage. It grows 3-4’ tall in frost-free climates, but typically grows 1-3’ in the St. Louis area. Features ovate-lanceolate dark green leaves (to 8” long) that are flushed with silvery-purple iridescence above and dark purple beneath. Spikes of tiny violet 5-lobed funnel-shaped flowers usually do not bloom during the St. Louis growing season, but infrequently may be seen on overwintered plants in greenhouses. Flowers appear in short cone-shaped inflorescences,
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Tagetes erecta
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African marigold
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noted for their large flowerheads. They typically grow from 1-4’ tall and feature huge, mostly double-globular flowers (2-4” diameter) in various shades of yellow, orange, and whitish. Pinnate leaves on glabrous, angular stems. Foliage and flowers are aromatic when brushed or crushed
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Tagetes patula
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French marigold
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compact 6-12” tall, single, semi-double, double or crested flowers (1-2” diameter) of yellow, orange, red and bicolor, pinnate leaves with toothed, lance-shaped leaflets are aromatic
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Viola xwittrockiana
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pansy
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8” tall with 2-4” diameter flattened face-like flowers. Flowers come in a wide variety of colors including various shades of blue, purple, red, rose, yellow, apricot, brown-red, white and bicolors, often with contrasting blotching or central whiskering/markings. Ovate to elliptic medium to dark green leaves (to 1.5” long).
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Zinnia angustifolia
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narrow leaf zinnia
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compact bushy annuals that typically grow 8-16” tall on hairy, branching stems, single, daisy-like, bright orange flowers (to 1” diameter).
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Zinnia elegans
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garden zinnia
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bushy, leafy annuals that typically grow 1-3’ tall on upright, hairy, branching stems, single, semi-double and double red, yellow, orange, pink, rose, lavender, green and white, flowers, ovate to lance-shaped, opposite leaves (to 5” long) clasp the stems
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