(Quisco)

Famous for its large, outstanding flowers, this sizable genus of South American cacti includes about 128 species. It is spread over a very large range to include Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. There are some American botanists who have retired the genus Trichocereus and lumped all of its species into Echinopsis, significantly enlarging its size. However, the Europeans have resisted such a move and references from the Old World have retained the original...

(Red Torch Cactus)

Good size overall and abundant flowers make this a superior choice for both container gardens and desert landscaping. It is native to northern Argentina where plants are widely adaptable to a wide range of exposures. The plant is composed of many stems that originate at the base, standing upright at the center and growing more procumbent around the edges of the clump. Each stem, about the diameter of a baseball bat is dark green, averaging 14 to 17 low rounded ridges, which bear areoles from which...

(Easter Lily Cactus)

Famous for its large, outstanding flowers, this sizable genus of South American cacti includes about 128 species. It is spread over a very large range to include Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. There are some American botanists who have retired the genus Trichocereus and lumped all of its species into Echinopsis, significantly enlarging its size. However, the Europeans have resisted such a move and references from the Old World have retained the original...

(San Pedro)

Famous for its large, outstanding flowers, this sizable genus of South American cacti includes about 128 species. It is spread over a very large range to include Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. There are some American botanists who have retired the genus Trichocereus and lumped all of its species into Echinopsis, significantly enlarging its size. However, the Europeans have resisted such a move and references from the Old World have retained the original...

(Golden Torch)

Famous for its large, outstanding flowers, this sizable genus of South American cacti includes about 128 species. It is spread over a very large range to include Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. There are some American botanists who have retired the genus Trichocereus and lumped all of its species into Echinopsis, significantly enlarging its size. However, the Europeans have resisted such a move and references from the Old World have retained the original...

(Easter Lily Cactus)

Famous for its large, outstanding flowers, this sizable genus of South American cacti includes about 128 species. It is spread over a very large range to include Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. There are some American botanists who have retired the genus Trichocereus and lumped all of its species into Echinopsis, significantly enlarging its size. However, the Europeans have resisted such a move and references from the Old World have retained the original...

(Pride of Madeira)

With tall flower spikes of cool blue and lavender, pride of Madeira is a magnificent, easy to grow subshrub that shines in spring and summer. This tender, bushy evergreen is native to Madeira but has escaped from gardens and populated many subtropical countries where it is often considered invasive.

Its upright stems have whorls of slender, gray-green leaves covered with soft white hairs and distinguished by light midribs. In spring and summer each stem produces a tall flower spike with hundreds...

(Giant Viper's Bugloss, Pine Echium, Tree Echium)

Small, unassuming rosettes of linear, dusty green foliage develop floral columns lined with small violet-blue flowers that burst upward to heights of 8- to 10-feet (2.5- to 3.25-meters). A native of the dry inland laurel forests of the Canary Islands, tree echium survives as a half-hardy biennial. It is a spectacular plant in bloom and has become endangered in its native habitat, though it is very popular in cultivation.

Dense rosettes of linear, silvery or dusty green foliage overwinter and...

(Common Viper's Bugloss)

Native to Europe and western Asia and a common roadside weed over much of the United States, this bristly biennial is grown for its tall summer-long spikes of azure flowers.

First-year seedlings of this hardy biennial form broad rosettes of large, rough, lance-shaped leaves. The following growing season, long steeple-like clusters of small funnel-shaped blooms are borne on stout upright stems that continue to appear from late spring to late summer. Flowers are typically pink aging to blue, but...

(Blue Bedder Bugloss, Common Viper's Bugloss)

A compact, blue-flowered selection of a bristly Eurasian biennial, 'Blue Bedder' blooms its first year if sown in early spring.

Rosettes of rough, lance-shaped leaves give rise to conical clusters of small, violet-blue, funnel-shaped blooms on calf-high stems. Seedlings started in early spring bloom from early to late summer; those started in fall bloom from late spring to midsummer the following year. Plants usually self-sow abundantly if not deadheaded.

This bee, butterfly, and hummingbird...