(Common Wormwood, Mugwort, Oriental Limelight Mugwort)

This variegated form of the weedy common wormwood has pretty enough golden variegated foliage but is profoundly invasive in the garden and beyond. It is next to impossible to get rid of once it takes hold. Plants aggressively spread via underground stems, called rhizomes, which form large matted colonies—even the smallest rhizome left in the ground will result in a new plant.

Common Wormwood is an herbaceous perennial that originates from areas across Europe, Africa, Asia and arguably northwestern...

(Breadfruit)

Captain William Bligh of the HMS Bounty brought breadfruit to the West Indies in the 1790s from his journeys across the South Pacific. While the precise origins of the breadfruit tree are not clear, it's likely native to Indonesia and Malaysia. Its movement by man is largely to blame. Through the centuries, peoples cultivated it for its fruit and wood and seeds were carried eastward as the islands of the South Pacific became inhabited.

Breadfruit is a fast-growing tropical tree. Both the...

(Arum, Cretan Arum)

At first glance of the Cretan arum in bloom, you'd think it was a lemon-scented calla lily. Native to the rocky mountainous hillsides of the Greek island of Crete, and adjacent western Turkey, it prospers in sunnier conditions, unlike many other arums which prefer shade.

The medium green, satiny leaves look like small arrowheads and appear from fall to spring. They die back in summer during the arid heat of the Mediterranean. Any time in spring, flower stems will rise above the leaves. Each bloom...

(Goat's Beard)

(Goat's Beard, Misty Lace Goat's Beard)

(Dwarf Goat's Beard)

(Orchid)

Often called bamboo orchids because of their grassy leaves and wiry stems, members of Arundina comprise two different species, Arundina graminifolia and Arundina caespitosa. All exist in the meadows and open forests of Southeast Asia, from the Himalayas to Malaysia.

These terrestrial (ground-dwelling) wildflowers grow from a rhizome and produce sword-like leaves. A central flower stalk lined with showy pink, violet-pink, or white and pink bicolored flowers, which open...

(Bamboo Orchid)

Best known for its grassy foliage and beautiful, fragrant pink blooms, this species of bamboo orchid is distributed across the middle elevations from northern India to Sri Lanka, South China and Southeast Asia where growing conditions are warm and humid. In its natural habitat, this rhizomatous orchid is quite prolific and forms grassy clumps. In its natural habitat it is most commonly terrestrial (ground dwelling), though plants may also be found growing on rock faces or rarely in trees. This species...

(Giant Reed)

Giant reed is a large, evergreen or deciduous, perennial grass with thick, hollow, cane-like stems and long, arching, green to gray-green leaves. In late summer it produces feathery plumes of light green to purplish flowers that mature to silver. Originally from southern Europe, giant reed has been widely planted and become naturalized in temperate and sub-tropical regions worldwide. It spreads by underground rhizomes and is potentially invasive in tropical and subtropical regions where it may also...

(Giant Reed, Golden Chain Giant Reed)

Giant reed is a large, evergreen or deciduous, perennial grass with thick, hollow, cane-like stems and long, arching, green to gray-green leaves. In late summer it produces feathery plumes of light green to purplish flowers that mature to silver. Originally from southern Europe, giant reed has been widely planted and become naturalized in temperate and sub-tropical regions worldwide. It spreads by underground rhizomes and is potentially invasive in tropical and subtropical regions where it may also...