(Mexican Tea)

Long prized in Mexico as an herb and medicinal plant, this weedy annual or short-lived perennial from tropical America is naturalized worldwide from the tropics to the temperate zones. Plants form clumps of erect, waist-high stems with alternate, oval, toothed leaves. Bruised leaves emit a pungent, disagreeable odor. In summer, long spikes of small greenish flowers appear at the stem tips and leaf axils. Tiny greenish single-seeded fruits follow the flowers. Plants readily self-sow.

Mexican...

(Chionodoxa, Glory-of-the-Snow)

Carpeting the garden with starry flowers very early in the year, this little bulb from Turkey is wonderful for massing in borders and lawns. Hardy and self-reliant, it produces clusters of four to 12 deep blue blooms atop short leafless stems in late winter and early spring. The flowers have a small white eye. Two grass-like leaves emerge with the blooms, going dormant within a few weeks. The flowers and leaves grow from small rounded bulbs covered with brown tunics. Plants often self-sow to form...

(Spider Plant)

Probably the most popular houseplant of all time, spider plant produces a spreading clump of broad, arching, green blades. It is typically grown as a hanging basket specimen because it produces long, pendulous, wiry stems with lots of spidery plantlets at the tips, hence the common name. The most popular variety in commerce is the variegated form, ‘Variegatum.’ The species is native to South Africa where it exists in upland and lowland forests, so it naturally grows well in shade.

The long,...

(Spider Plant, Variegated Spider Plant)

The variegated spider plant is the most commonly grown form. It has attractive thin strap-like leaves of green edged with white. The plants are tender, but vigorous and prolific.

Chlorophytum cosmosum is indigenous to South Africa. It is a clump-forming tender perennial that’s primarily cultivated as an annual or houseplant. Spider plant spreads slowly by thick rhizomes (underground stems) that are easily divided. Its grassy strap-like leaves are delicate, green and white-edged....

(Spider Plant, Variegated Spider Plant)

Forming a clumping tuft of dark green and ivory leaves that often arch or curl backwards, 'Vittatum' is a showy selection of the common spider plant. Indigenous to South Africa this is a frost-tender, clump-forming perennial that is often used as a tropical groundcover or hanging basket houseplant. Spider plant spreads by rhizomes (underground stems) and by young plants borne on the sprawling or dangling stems.

Grass-like leaves are dark green but with a central band of ivory. Plants produce small,...

(Mexican Orange, Mexican Orange Blossom, Mock Orange)

Sweet, citrusy-smelling white flowers adorn the branches of Mexican orange from very late winter to autumn. An evergreen subtropical shrub from the higher elevations of Mexico, it has glossy, compound foliage, each leaf composed of three, oval leaflets that are fragrant if crushed. In late winter, clusters of five-petaled white blossoms cover the plant, emitting an intoxicating fragrance like that of orange blossoms, and attracting honeybees. The first blooming season lasts for weeks, and then flowering...

(Frangipani Vine)

Coarse looking, but glossy green with a crepe paper texture, the leaves of frangipani vine take a secondary role once the amazingly fragratn white flowers appear in spring and summer. A heavy, large, broadleaf evergreen vine, it is native from India southward to Malaysia.

New leaves emerge a light green with a hint of bronze and soon become large oval to heart-shaped leaves of glossy green. The blades have a rippled vein texture. In midspring through the summer, small clusters of baseball-sized,...

(White Floss Silk Tree, White Silk Floss Tree)

This medium to large deciduous tree is distinguished by its swollen, prickly trunk and its large white late-season flowers. It is native to semi-arid lowlands of central South America.

The leaves of white silk floss tree are palmately compound, with five to seven leaflets arranged like fingers on a hand. In autumn and early winter, large, creamy-white flowers open, casting a light vanilla-like fragrance. Each flower has five wide-flaring petals and a pale yellow, cup-shaped throat. Pear-shaped...

(Chorisia, Floss Silk Tree, Silk Floss Tree)

This medium to large deciduous tree is distinguished by its swollen, prickly trunk and its large colorful late-season flowers. It is native to semi-arid forests of Brazil and Argentina.

The leaves of floss silk floss tree are palmately compound, with five to seven leaflets arranged like fingers. In autumn and early winter, large, pink or reddish-purple flowers open, usually after the leaves fall. Each flower has five wide-flaring petals and a pale yellow, purple-flecked throat. Pear-shaped seedpods...

(Damianita)

A cheerful mound of bright yellow flowers in spring and summer, damianita is a heat and drought-tolerant wonder native from northern Mexico to western Texas and southern New Mexico in the United States. The small, needle-like leaves are dark green, giving this evergreen shrub an attractive look even when not in bloom. They are aromatic if crushed. Damianita blooms most heavily from mid-spring to late summer, but flowers in flushes year round when grown in full sun and frost-free regions. Butterflies...