(Kabuna, Mizuna, Spinach Mustard, Tendergreen)

A fast-growing annual or biennial grown as a vegetable leaf crop, mizuna tastes like sweet lettuce with peppery zest. The Japanese word "mizuna" translates to "water vegetable", referring to the juicy stalks. Young, smaller leaves are typically harvested and added to mesclun salad mixes, while larger slightly stronger-flavored foliage is used in cooked dishes. Some botanists suspect the subspecies nipposinica is European but it has naturalized across eastern Asia where it is most associated...

(Greater Quaking Grass)

The genus Briza comprises around 22 accepted species of annual or perennial grasses. They are commonly called quaking grasses because their pendulous, papery seedheads are produced on upright stems that quake in the wind. Most species are Eurasian, with a few New World species existing in South America. (Some taxonomists believe South American species should be reclassified under the three separate genera, Calotheca, Chascolytrum and Poidium.) Many cultivated Briza...

(Perennial Quaking Grass)

Common quaking grass is a perennial, tufted grass grown mostly for its interesting seed pods. It is native to Eurasia and naturalized in the cooler regions of North America. The leaves are linear, narrow, flat, upright and green to blue-green in color. Common quaking grass spreads slowly by rhizome (underground stem). Flowers are small and green held in lacy branched heads on stiff, leafless stalks well above the foliage, doubling the size of the plant. They appear later spring into summer. The fruit...

(California Brodiaea)

The largest and arguably most beautiful brodiaea, this "bulb" from the foothills and coastal ranges of California blooms in a starburst of flowers reminiscent of a small Agapanthus. The clusters of up to 12 upfacing funnel-shaped flowers perch atop wiry knee-high stems in late spring and early summer. The purple, lavender, pinkish, or white flowers have dark longitudinal midstripes. Long grassy leaves precede the flowers, withering before or as the flowers open. Like all other of its genus,...

(Paraguay Jasmine, Yesterday Today and Tomorrow)

The charming flowers of this broadleaf evergreen shrub provide color and fragrance over a long season. Native to southern Brazil, northern Argentina, and Paraguay, it bears violet-blue, white-eyed blossoms in few-flowered clusters from early spring into fall. The sweetly scented blooms last several days, fading to lavender and white as they age. Spherical, brownish-green, berry-like fruits sometimes follow the flowers. The lush, dark green, oval leaves are normally evergreen but may drop after frost....

(Yesterday Today and Tomorrow)

(Dwarf Yesterday Today and Tomorrow, Raintree, Yesterday Today and Tomorrow)

(Raintree, Yesterday Today and Tomorrow)

This shrub is commonly called yesterday-today-and-tomorrow because its blooms open purple, fade to lavender and finally to white with all three colors occurring on the shrub. Its flat, pansy-like flowers are borne in clusters from spring into fall.

Though it tolerates full sun, this plant is native to the woodlands of Brazil and does best with dappled shade. Raintree needs moist, humusy soils that are slightly acidic. In neutral to alkaline soils or if planted near concrete, nutrient deficiencies...

(Dwarf Yesterday Today and Tomorrow, Raintree, Yesterday Today and Tomorrow)

This shrub is commonly called yesterday-today-and-tomorrow because its blooms open purple, fade to lavender and finally to white with all three colors occurring on the shrub. 'Floribunda Compacta' is a freely blooming smaller shrub. Its flat, pansy-like flowers are borne in clusters from spring into fall.

Though it tolerates full sun, this plant is native to the woodlands of Brazil and does best with dappled shade. Raintree needs moist, humusy soils that are slightly acidic. In neutral to alkaline...

(Raintree, Today and Tomorrow, Yesterday)

This shrub is commonly called yesterday-today-and-tomorrow because its blooms open purple, fade to lavender and finally to white with all three colors occurring on the shrub. 'Floribunda' is a very free-flowering selection with a open growth habit. Its flat, pansy-like flowers are borne in clusters from spring into fall.

Though it tolerates full sun, this plant is native to the woodlands of Brazil and does best with dappled shade. Raintree needs moist, humusy soils that are slightly acidic. In...