(Garden Yellowrocket)

Looking like wild mustard or wild radish, the garden yellowrocket bears small cross-shaped yellow flowers from early spring to early summer. This biennial or very short-lived perennial typically grows in the cooler months, from autumn to spring, becoming dormant in the heat of summer.

The long taproot supports a rosette of medium green leaves that are elongated with lobes. The flower stem arises from the center of this rosettes and branches many times to support scores of tiny lemon yellow blossoms...

(Crested Philippine Violet)

Sandpapery leaves nestle around the trumpeting lavender-purple flowers of the crested Philippine violet in autumn. A semi-evergreen shrub native to India and Southeast Asia, it is upright in habit with a rounded silhouette. The leaves are oval, medium-green, roughly haired. Blooming most heavily in autumn, but a lesser degree in spring, it has lavender-purple or pinkish flowers at the tips of its stems. Each blossom is trumpet-like with a throat that is white-streaked. In a cool or droughty winter,...

(Golden Barleria, Primrose Barleria)

Pleasantly rounded in habit with deep green foliage, primrose barleria bears upright green spikes that have delicate light yellow blossoms from fall to spring. This tender tropical shrub is native from southern Mexico to Colombia. It is the only Barleria native to the New World and has commonly been mistakenly labeled in the nursery trade as Barleria micans, which is from Africa.

The many upright branches on this shrub creates a rounded clump. Leaves are slightly hairy or fuzzy...

(Ceylon Spinach, Indian Spinach, Malabar Spinach)

Pretty in flower and with edible, spinach-like foliage, Malabar spinach is a fast-growing vine that has both ornamental and culinary qualities. This heat-tolerant native of India is perennial and fully evergreen where hardy and has densely twining, rambling stems that can become thick and may require some management to keep them from overtaking supports.

The long, fleshy, green stems of Malabar spinach readily twine around anything upright and are lined with rounded, heart-shaped leaves of a...

(Ceylon Spinach, Malabar Spinach, Red Malabar Spinach)

Red-stemmed and pretty in flower, red Malabar spinach is a fast-growing vine that has both ornamental and culinary qualities. Its tender leaves can be eaten like spinach and colorful stems add season-long interest. A native of India, Malabar spinach is a fully evergreen tender perennial with densely twining, rambling stems that can become thick and often require management to keep them from overtaking supports.

The long, fleshy, reddish purple stems of red Malabar spinach readily twine around...

(Burningbush, Kochia)

A fast-growing annual with dense foliage on upright stems, Burning bush is showy in autumn as its leaves turn reddish purple. Native to Eurasia, this species is usually considered a weed elsewhere because it reseeds itself abundantly.

The leaves are thin and oblong or linear, ranging in color from light green to a light gray-green. The soft, fleshy stems are blushed salmon-red and can readily flop or break in a rain or wind downburst. Flowers occur in summer but are inconspicuous. In autumn the...

(Butterfly Vine, Orange Bauhinia, Orange Butterfly Vine)

Attracting butterflies with its pretty clusters of yellow and orange springtime flowers, orange butterfly vine also has two-lobed leaves that resemble a pair of angel's wings. A frost-tender, rambling evergreen liana (woody vine), it is native to southeastern Asia from Thailand to Malaysia.

The unusual two-lobed leaves of orange butterfly vine are bright green when young and mature to a dull medium to dark green. Each leaf has five to seven prominent veins. In the warmth of spring and early summer,...

(Blake's Butterfly Tree, Chinese Orchid Tree, Hong Kong Orchid Tree)

One of the most beautiful and serviceable of the orchid trees, Hong Kong orchid tree is sterile and a putative hybrid between two Southeast Asian bauhinias. (Some scientists believe it is a hybrid between Bauhinia purpurea and B. variegata, but they have been unable to duplicate the cross.) It grows to become a broad, spreading small tree and produces loads of variable deep pink blooms from fall to winter. Choose it as a specimen for drier tropical and subtropical gardens and landscapes.

Borne...

(Butterfly Tree, Nasturtium Bauhinia, Red Bauhinia)

When in bloom, the nasturium-bauhinia looks like a reddish-orange bougainvillea from a distance due to its habit and profuse flowers. A semi-deciduous tree native to southeastern Africa, it grows upright, but has drooping, spreading branches that flop to the ground or on to nearby plants.

The leaves are rounded and divided into two lobes like other Bauhinia. They are a light to medium green and shed during the cool or lightly frosty winter season. The five-petaled flowers bloom most...

(St. Thomas Tree)

The St. Thomas tree produces delicate pale yellow flowers with dark throats from spring to fall. This large tropical shrub or small tree is native to much of the Old World Tropics, from eastern Africa to southeastern China.

The smooth, rounded, papery leaves of this subtly pretty tree are green with blue-green tones. During the warm months, when moisture is available, the branches become filled with bell-shaped flowers that resemble hibiscus blossoms. In high heat flowering may cease. The...