(Blue Fumewort)

Hauntingly beautiful in flower but often balky in cultivation, Corydalis flexuosa is an herbaceous perennial from high altitudes in central Sichuan. The cultivar 'Purple Leaf' has luminous purple-blue flowers and bronze-tinged leaves. Growing from a network of scaly rhizomes, it forms spreading clumps of ferny-leaved, calf-high stems topped by conical clusters of 10 to 20 flowers. The two-lipped, long-spurred, fragrant flowers appear through much of spring. The leaves have a red central...

(Yellow Fumewort)

Few plants are as long-blooming and carefree as this fleshy-rooted herbaceous perennial from the foothills of the southern Alps. Also known as Pseudofumaria lutea, it has been cultivated since the fifteenth century for its dense conical clusters of small sunny yellow flowers, which appear in abundance from spring to fall atop calf-high mounds of lacy pale green leaves. Each bloom has a gaping mouth and a tubular back-facing spur. The flowers give rise to small pod-like capsules containing...

(Berry Exciting Fumewort, Fumewort)

More easily grown than many other Chinese Corydalis (including C. flexuosa), C. shimienensis is a hardy herbaceous perennial from relatively low altitudes in western Sichuan. The cultivar 'Berry Exciting' is a showy-leaved sport of 'Blackberry Wine.' Growing from a network of short clumping rhizomes, its calf-high stems are furnished with elegant ferny foliage that is bright gold in spring and ages to lime-green in summer. From late spring to summer the...

(Solid-rooted Fumewort)

Eurasian in origin, this low herbaceous perennial has dainty leaves and showy pink, purple, red, or white flowers that light up the spring garden. The conical or cylindrical clusters of two-lipped, long-spurred flowers are borne atop one or two short stems that arise from a rounded underground tuber in early spring. Ferny, deeply cleft, compound leaves clothe the lower reaches of the stems. The flowers give rise to elongated capsules filled with small brown seeds that are distributed by ants. Plants...

(Common Filbert, Purpleleaf Contorted Filbert)

If you enjoy the four-season interest of Harry Lauder's walking stick ('Contorta'), 'Red Majestic' will give you amorous heart palpitations. Purpleleaf contorted filbert is an ornamental multi-stemmed shrub with vibrant foliage that is crinkled and purple when it first emerges, turns reddish purple in summer, and by fall transitions to glorious burgundy before falling away to reveal beautifully contorted branches. Its conspicuous male flowers, which are drooping purplish-burgundy catkins, bloom in...

(Gray Clubawn Grass, Grey Hair Grass)

Forming a beautiful clump of fine, very narrow, blue-green or gray leaves and reddish purple sheaths, grey hair grass adds delicate texture to the landscape. This short-lived perennial, clumping grass is native to Europe, northern Africa, eastern North America and western South America. The hair-like leaves are slightly blue-green, more often gray-green, and emerge from beautifully contrasting sheaths that are red-purple. In summer, airy, upright panicles, or branched stem tips fill with tiny flowers,...

(Coryphantha)

This genus of small cacti includes about 45 species which are always in a state of flux because this group is devilishly hard to classify accurately. Coryphantha bears close ties to two genera, Mammilaria and Escobaria, which are visually identical to the untrained eye. This genus is considered the most widespread in North America, with its range extending from the Southwestern U.S and much of Mexico. They are most often found in rocky elevated positions where these small...

(Elephant's Tooth, Starry Ball)

This tidy little cactus is a great choice for windowsill gardens, greenhouses and outdoors in the Southwest. It is native to the Mexican states of Michoacan and Morelos where conditions are dry and rainfall scarce. In habitat this cactus is found as an individual, but may also produce very large clumps. Each plant is globe shaped and stemless, the skin glossy dark green with some wool at the growth tip. The tubercles on this cactus are large and well defined with each containing a spine bearing areole....

(Chocolate Cosmos)

Native to sunny meadows and open areas of Mexico, this appealing perennial is valued for its long-lasting display of velvety, dark maroon flowers that indeed emit a delicate cocoa scent. Spreading slowly via tuberous roots, it possesses an upright, branching habit and is covered with fresh green, somewhat fern-like foliage. Wiry, burgundy stems support a profusion of lush, chocolate-red flowerheads with slightly darker centers which bloom generously from summer into fall.

Chocolate cosmos prefers...

(Common Cosmos, Sonata Carmine)

‘Sonata Carmine’ displays large, deep magenta daisies atop dwarf, bushy plants throughout the summer. A member of the Sonata Series, it was developed from a showy annual native to fields and open areas of Mexico, and is much shorter in stature than typical of the species.

Growing quickly from seed, the many-branched stems of this cosmos are densely lined with feathery, very finely divided, light to medium green foliage. A profusion of large, bowl-shaped daisies top the stems throughout the...