Description
OUT OF STOCK
Rosettes of succulent leaves
Rosettes of succulent leaves
OUT OF STOCK
Rosettes of succulent leaves
OUT OF STOCK
Green flowers in summer then, “conspicuous in winter when covered with its grayish white fruits which stay on the branches until spring.” Bailey “The leaves turn a fine brown-purple in the fall, but the berries are the thing – pewter in color, with a texture like those Fourth of July sparklers of childhood memory, they have a delicious fragrance.” Allen Lacy.
Size: 9’ x 10’
Care: sun in any soil
Native: Canada to Southeastern U.S. No pruning needed but can be pruned at any time of year, if desired.
Wildlife Value: Berries relished by chickadees, red-bellied woodpeckers, swallows, Titmouse, catbirds, bluebirds, Northern flicker & yellow-rumped warblers. Bayberry thickets also provide nesting sites for songbirds, offering excellent protection from predators.
Probably 1st collected for gardens by John Bartram (1699-1776). Offered for sale in Bartram Garden’s 1783 Broadside, America’s 1st plant catalog. In 1800’s considered “very ornamental in the shrubbery.” Fragrant leaves used for potpourri, abundant berries used to make candles. Good road-side plant, salt tolerant. Berries used to make candles. Boil berries (drupes) to melt wax coating. Collect wax from surface of water. In American Medicinal Plants Charles F. Millspaugh noted that “Candles made from this wax, though quite brittle, are less greasy in warm weather, of fine appearance, slightly aromatic, and smokeless after snuffing, rendering them much more pleasant to use than those made of either wax (paraffin) or tallow (animal fat).” 1892.
June – September (WOW!) short blue-purple, more blue than purple, spikes of compact flowers bloom on short, slowly creeping mat of sword-shaped foliage that suppresses weeds.
Size: 6-8” x 12”
Care: sun to part shade in well-drained soil
Native: Siberia, Mongolia & Kazakhstan
Wildlife Value: attracts pollinators. Drought tolerant; deer and rabbit resistant
According to Christian tradition, as Jesus carried the cross to Calvary, a woman wiped his face with her handkerchief, leaving the imprint of the features of his face, the vera iconica, meaning “true likeness.” When the Catholic Church canonized the woman, the Church gave her the name Saint Veronica. Medieval gardeners named a different Veronica after her due to the perceived likeness of the flower to her handkerchief. Collected by 1950 Russian botanist Nikolái Pávlov (1893-1971) described and named this in Vestn. Akad. Nauk Kazakhsk. S.S.R v.4 p. 92 (Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR) in 1951. Kazakh is the name of the language of people of Central Asia inhabiting mainly Kazakhstan which became independent of Russia in 1991.
OUT OF STOCK
Bushy plants bear showy, red-purple pea-like blooms age to rich purple in March-June. Spring gem.
Size: 10” x 10”
Care: sun in north to shade in south, moist well-drained soil. Drought tolerant once established
Native: No. Europe - Siberia
Awards: Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit, Elisabeth Carey Miller Botanical Garden Great Plant Picks
Introduced to gardens before 1629 when herbalist John Parkinson (1567-1650) called it “Blew Everlasting Pease.”
Dark pink-purple flowers from late spring to mid-summer
Size: 32” x 18”
Care: full sun to part shade in moist well-drained soil
Native: Europe
Wildlife Value: a favorite of Bumblebees
In Greek mythology Silene was a companion of Bacchus who was covered with foam. Dioicus means that male and female plants are separate. Described by 1750’s. Grown in American gardens since 1800’s