Thalictrum coriaceum  Maid of the Mist Z 5-7

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• Clematis texensis ‘Gravetye Beauty’ Z 5-9

  Small crimson-red bells dangle from July to September

  

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  Small crimson-red bells dangle from July to September

  Size: 8’ x 3’
  Care: Sun in humusy, fertile, moist well-drained soil. Mulch around the base. Flowers on current year’s stems so cut back to 6-9” 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 1^st collected by the “Father of Texas botany,” Ferdinand Lindheimer in 1830’s. Max Leichtin of the Baden Garden sent Clematis texensis to Kew Botanic Garden near London in 1880’s.  French nurseryman Francisque Morel sent this selection to William Robinson who named it for his English nursery at Gravetye Manor in 1914.

• Epimedium grandiflorum Barrenwort, Bishop’s hat Z 5-8

  White-lavender flowers in May atop wiry stems look like fantastical birds with too many wings, or a four-cornered bishop’s hat.

  

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  White-lavender flowers in May atop wiry stems look like fantastical birds with too many wings, or a four-cornered bishop’s hat.  Ornamental heart-shaped leaves and red stems.

  Size: 6-12” x 18” slow spreader
  Care: shade to part shade in well-drained to moist well-drained soil. Once roots established, valuable in dry shade
  Native: China, Japan & Korea

  Its Chinese name is “Yin Yang Ho” meaning “Licentious goat herb, “ because allegedly an aphrodisiac for goats!  In China & Japan thought to remedy impotence, liver ailments & all age related maladies.  In Western gardens since 1834.

• Myrica pensylvanica syn. Morella pensylvanica Wax myrtle, Northern bayberry SHRUB Z 3-6

  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.

  

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  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 1^st collected for gardens by John Bartram (1699-1776).  Offered for sale in Bartram Garden’s 1783 Broadside, America’s 1^st 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.

• Stachys minima syn. Stachys spathulata Dwarf betony Z 5-9

  Atop a mound of spatula-shaped, crinkled leaves with scalloped edges rises a bounty of 4 to 5 inch tall spikes, each crowned with a hoard of tiny fuchsia-colored trumpets blowing their horns “look at me” in early to mid-summer.

  

  $10.25/pot

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  Atop a mound of spatula-shaped, crinkled leaves with scalloped edges rises a bounty of 4 to 5 inch tall spikes, each crowned with a hoard of tiny fuchsia-colored trumpets blowing their horns “look at me” in early to mid-summer.

  Size: 4-8" x 8-12" spreading slowly by rhizomes
  Care: sun to part shade in moist well-drained soil
  Native: South Africa
  Wildlife Value: Deer resistant. Attracts small bees and butterflies

  English adventurer and naturalist William John Burchell (1781-1863) scoured South Africa from 1803 to 1815 collecting more than 50,000 specimens packed in 48 crates.  In places unexplored he found insects, animals, fish and unknown plants, this being one.  Although he published two volumes of his exploration, he did not finish the last, third volume, leaving another to write the botany.  Premier English botanist George Bentham (1800-1884) took up the task authoring Labiatarum Genera et Species, published in 1834.  He wrote the first published description and named this tiny plant with outsized charm.