(Japanese Fatsia, Paperplant)

Enormous palm-shaped evergreen leaves irregularly edged with ivory are the ornamental highlight of this splendid Japanese fatsia. Some suggest it's also slightly hardier than average. A native of southern Japan, it thrives in shaded spots and naturally inhabits forested lands. It can be somewhat invasive and has become naturalized across many parts of the world. Several cultivars exist, the most beautiful having variegated foliage.

The deeply lobed, palmate leaves of this upright bushy shrub...

(Blue Daisy, Blue Marguerite)

A bushy, cold-tender, evergreen subshrub often grown as an annual, this South African native is prized for its showy blooms that resemble small daisies. Dense, calf- to waist-high plants clad with small, mid- to dark-green, oval leaves give rise to luminous blue, yellow-eyed blossoms on long stems. Bloom continues year-round as long as nights are cool and days not too hot, provided plants are deadheaded. The popular cultivar 'Read's White' has white flowers; the leaves of 'Variegata' have creamy-white...

(Blue Marguerite)

A native of South Africa, balpinperi pinwheel series blue marguerite is a rounded, bushy, blooming subshrub often grown as an annual. Characterized by its early bloom-time this plant provides a splash of bright color from late spring to autumn when covered in blue daisy-like flowers with bright yellow centers. It has green, oval, slightly aromatic leaves and will bloom nearly continuously if spent flowers are deadheaded. Tolerant of poor soils, balpinperi pinwheel series blue marguerite is a highly...

A native of South Africa, the pinwheel periwinkle series blue marguerite is a rounded, bushy, blooming subshrub often grown as an annual. This plant provides a splash of pastel color from summer to autumn when covered in periwinkle daisy-like flowers with bright yellow centers. It has green, oval, slightly aromatic leaves and will bloom nearly continuously if spent flowers are deadheaded. Tolerant of poor soils, pinwheel series blue marguerite is a highly versatile annual that performs well in containers,...

(Blue Marguerite, San Gabriel Blue Marguerite)

A native of South Africa, san gabriel blue marguerite is a rounded, bushy, blooming subshrub often grown as an annual. This plant provides a splash of intense color from summer to autumn when covered in light to deep blue daisy-like flowers with bright yellow centers. It has green, oval, slightly aromatic leaves and will bloom nearly continuously if spent flowers are deadheaded. Tolerant of poor soils, san gabriel blue marguerite is a highly versatile annual that performs well in containers, rock...

(Blue Marguerite)

A native of South Africa, the pinwheel periwinkle series blue marguerite is a rounded, bushy, blooming subshrub often grown as an annual. This plant provides a splash of pastel color from summer to autumn when covered in periwinkle daisy-like flowers with bright yellow centers. It has green, oval, slightly aromatic leaves and will bloom nearly continuously if spent flowers are deadheaded. Tolerant of poor soils, pinwheel series blue marguerite is a highly versatile annual that performs well in containers,...

(Barrel Cactus)

Genus Ferocactus contains the primary desert barrel cactus of the North American deserts. It contains 29 species which are either round or columnar in shape. Its range spans most of the arid regions of the American Southwest, dipping down into northern and central Mexico. They are also common in the Baja California peninsula where conditions are extremely arid.

The genus is named from the Latin, ferox, which means wild or fierce. Recent DNA testing has linked this genus...

(Barrel Cactus , California Fire Barrel Cactus)

The desert barrel cactus is so densely covered in small and large spines on its vertical ribs that you'd never know the underlying green stem-trunk is photosynthesizing sunlight. This slow-growing, upright, succulent evergreen perennial occurs on gravelly or sandy soil across the American Desert Southwest and into Mexico's Sonora and Baja California. This species is often misleadingly and erroneously called the compass barrel cactus, as it's confused with another species from this same region.

The...

(Colville's Barrel Cactus, Emory's Barrel Cactus)

Known as Colville's or Emory's barrel cactus, this spined, succulent evergreen perennial occurs on gravelly or sandy soil in Sonoran Desert scrublands: across southwestern Arizona and the northern Mexican state of Sonora. It slowly develops into a rounded or cylindrical "barrel" with numerous ribs lined with clusters of fearsome spines. Mature plants typically reach thigh height, but up to shoulder height isn't out of the question over many decades. The long, stiff spines are usually a shade of gray,...

(Blue Barrel Cactus, Glaucous Barrel Cactus)

The blue barrel cactus develops into a globe-shaped mass with tidy, star-like clusters of long spines. Rather than its succulent stem being green, it has a powdery gray (glaucous) film, making it look bluish. This slow-growing, succulent evergreen perennial is native to east-central Mexico, especially across the state of Hidalgo. With time, basal suckers (new plants) emerge from the base, eventually creating a mounding colony of round cacti.

This cactus has 11 to 15 vertical ribs. On the ridge...