Size: 36” x 12” Care: Sun, well-drained soil Native: Southern Europe
Both the Latin and common names are related to flax. Linaria comes from “linum” which is Greek for “flax” and toadflax includes the word “flax.” The leaves of Linaria purpurea resemble flax leaves. According to 17th century English herbalist, John Parkinson, the plant “causes one to make water.” Grown by Tradescant the Elder, 1634. American garden cultivation since 1800’s.
Buxus microphylla var. koreana syn. B. sinensis var. insularis
Size: 24” x 30” Care: Light to Part shade in well drained, alkaline soil. Do not crowd with other plants, roots prefer no competition. Fertilize regularly for dramatic growth. Prune in early spring. Unlike English boxwood this can be pruned back hard. One of a few shade tolerant evergreens and deer resistant too. Also the most hardy Boxwood.
Introduced from Asia to American and European gardens around 1900 by Ernest Henry “Chinese” Wilson (1876-1930) who scoured Asia for plants.
Clematis texensis ‘Gravetye Beauty’ Z 5-9
Small crimson-red bells dangle from July to September
Small crimson-red bells dangle from July to September
Size: 8’ x 3’ Care: Full sun in humusy, fertile, moist well-drained soil. Mulch around the base. Flowers on current year’s stems so cut back to 6-8” in late winter or early spring.
The genus Clematis was named by Dioscordes, physician in Nero’s army, from klema meaning “climbing plant.” The species 1st collected by the “Father of Texas Botany” Ferdinand Lindheimer in 1830’s. Max Leichtlin of the Baden Botanic Garden sent C. texensis to Kew Botanic Garden in London in 1880. French nurseryman Francisque Morel sent this selection to William Robinson. Robinson named it for his English nursery at Gravetye Manor in 1914
Stachys minima syn. Stachys spathulata Dwarf betony Z 5-9
Emerging from a rosette of charming crinkly leaves, spikes of pink-purple trumpets bloom generously from June – July.
Emerging from a rosette of charming crinkly leaves, spikes of pink-purple trumpets bloom generously from June – July.
Size: 2-6” x 15-18” Care: sun to part shade in well-drained to moist well-drained soil Native: South Africa Wildlife Value: Walnut tolerant, deer resistant, hummingbird plant
Stachys is an old Greek word meaning “spike.” This species collected from the wild before 1834.