(Common Oregano, Thumble's Oregano)

The compact, golden-leaved oregano has an upright, clump-forming habit and offers clusters of small white flowers in summer. Its flavorful leaves are great for cooking, and to its credit, 'Thumble's Variety' is less vigorous than standard oregano. It s golden green leaves stay pretty all season long but may turn to green as the season wains.

Common oregano is one of the many beloved European herbs in the mint family. Its flavor is especially prominent in southern Italian, Spanish and Greek cooking....

(Hardy Marjoram, Italian Oregano)

Many gourmets consider Italian oregano the best oregano for culinary flavor. The seemingly perfect, mild intermediate flavor is the result of its origins: the hybrid between sweet marjoram (Origanum majorana) and Greek oregano (O. vulgare). Both of these parent species are native to the Mediterranean. Typically an herbaceous perennial, Italian oregano may develop stiff, woody stems in regions with mild winters.

This herb is an upright clump of numerous stems. The aromatic leaves...

(Arabian Star Flower, Arabian Star-of-Bethlehem)

Beautiful as cut flowers, the long stems of the Arabian star-of-Bethlehem are topped by waxy white flowers in late spring. This bulbous perennial is native to the eastern Mediterranean. Basal rosettes of dark green to dark bluish-green foliage grow up from the bulbs. Although these long strap-like leaves may grow as tall as the flower spike, they usually arch and flop on the ground.

Flowering season ranges from late spring to very early summer. The flower stalk towers upward, with the tip carrying...

(Star-of-Bethlehem)

Virtually unknown in cultivated landscapes, this species of star-of-Bethlehem is a superb spring-flowering perennial for rock and alpine gardens. It's native to the high elevation meadows and screes from the Balkans of southern Europe eastward to Georgia.

A basal rosette of medium green leaves grow from an underground bulb. This foliage is nearly prostrate on the ground. Depending on climate/elevation, flowering occurs anytime from very early spring to the start of summer. From the bulb, a short...

(Snake Flower, Sun Star, Yellow Chincherinchee)

Certain to brighten the winter and spring months with sun-like flowers, the yellow chincherinchee is a perennial bulb. It's native to southern Africa and prospers in mild regions with dry summers. Also called sun star, short blue-green to yellow-green leaves rise from the bulb and tend to lay almost prostrate on the soil.

During the rainier winter months, and lingering into the warming spring, yellow chincherinchee dazzles with flowers. Plants vary in their blossom color, ranging from red-orange...

(Narbonne Star-of-Bethlehem, Star-of-Bethlehem)

Very tall flower stems with starry white flowers are seen on the Narbonne star-of-Bethlehem anytime from early spring to very early summer (depending on climate). This bulbous perennial is native to mountains, steppes and deserts from the western Mediterranean (including coastal France) as far east as the Caucasus and Iran.

The leaves are green with grayish scales. The basal foliage looks like that of an garden onion with its narrow blades and somewhat arching or floppy habit. When in bloom,...

(Chincherinchee, Star-of-Bethlehem, Wonder Flower)

The chincherinchee is one of the world's finest cut flowers. The tall flower stems and long-lasting blooms are just two reasons why. Chincherinchee - also simply and ambiguously called a star-of-Bethlehem - is native to the Northern and Western Cape provinces in South Africa. It adapts well to garden culture in both hot, dry summer regions and where the summers are somewhat rainy followed by frosty winters. Chincherinchee is a perennial that grows from underground bulbs.

The robust plant produces...

(Eleven-o'clock Lady, Grass Lily, Nap-at-Noon, Sleepydick, Star-of-Bethlehem)

Very pretty in bloom, this star-of-Bethlehem species is often regarded as a pesky weed because of its copious seed production and ability to escape cultivation. A bulbous perennial, it's native to the Mediterranean from Portugal to Turkey, the Middle East and coastal Egypt. It prospers along river banks or other moist areas.

When not in flower, the foliage looks simply like a mundane tuft of lawn grass (the reason it's also known as grass lily). From late spring to very early summer, the starry...

(Spiny Pennywort)

Grown for its ornamental rosettes of fleshy, bristle-tipped leaves, this low evergreen perennial from northeastern Asia resembles a spiny hen and chicks.

The symmetrical, dome-shaped rosettes of this rock-hardy perennial are crowded with numerous gray-green, oblong, succulent leaves, each ending in a white prickle. The rosettes are denser and more compact in winter, and looser and leafier in summer. Winter rosettes are sometimes "sunflower-shaped", comprising a tight central rosette and an outer...

(Devilwood)

Devilwood...