(Arugula, Garden Rocket, Jamba, Rocketsalad)

Long cultivated for its piquant leaves, arugula is a cool-season annual from the Mediterranean region. In spring and early summer it produces upright rosettes of lobed oblong leaves that make a sophisticated and zesty addition to salads. Later in the season it sends up a tall central stem topped with clusters of creamy-white flowers that are also edible. Plants will reseed unless flower stems are promptly removed. The variety sativa is the form usually grown.

Sow arugula as soon as the...

(Miss Willmott's Ghost, Seaholly)

Thistle-like leaves and blue flowers with starry collars of silvery green makes Mrs. Willmott's ghost, or seaholly a favorite perennial for sunny gardens. Eryngium giganteum is a hardy herbaceous biennial native to the moist, well-drained soils of Iran and the Caucasus of extreme westcentral Asia. It has a dense basal rosette of heart-shaped, coarse, spiny and teethed green leaves iwth white edges and veins. In summer it produces starry flowers with a barreled cluster of fertile, tiny blue...

(Leavenworth's Eryngo, Texas Seaholly)

Pineapple-like flowers that blush from green to rich violet-purple in very late summer makes Leavenworth eryngo one of America's most vibrant dryland wildflowers. Eryngium leavenworthii is an annual native to dry prairie soils across Texas and into Oklahoma and Arkansas. The plant has a basal rosette of oblong, coarse, spiny-lobed green leaves. In midsummer it produces pineapple-like flowers with a barreled cluster of green buds with a tuft of spiny leaves atop a tall branching stem. By...

(Button Snakeroot, Rattlesnake Master)

Sword-shaped clumps of spiny, gray-green leaves are topped in summer by tall stems of pale silvery-green flowers on the imposing rattlesnake master. A semi-evergreen perennial that grows from a deep taproot, it is native to the rocky, drier glades and prairies across the eastern United States. It is an upright plant that will become a tufted clump.

Each leaf is sword-shaped, blue-gray to gray-green and has spines along the edges. Leaves cluster in a basal rosette. In midsummer onwards, towering...

(Cherokee Bean, Coral Bean, Red Cardinal)

Uniquely shaped blue-green foliage and brilliant red spikes of tubular flowers in summer make coral bean a garden conversation piece! A semi-herbaceous perennial that grows from a woody root, it can be nearly evergreen in frost-free regions to full deciduous in the colder parts of its hardiness range. It is native to the moist to seasonally dry pine forests of the southeastern United States and extreme northeastern Mexico.

The leaf stems have small thorns. The leaf is made up of three leaflets...

(Fireman's Cap, Shrub Coral Tree)

In late spring or summer the fiery scarlet-red flower spikes of fireman's cap emerge above the foliage and thorny stems. A deciduous shrub or small tree, it is a hybrid between the cry-baby tree (Erythrina crista-galli) and Cherokee bean (E. herbacea). The original cross occurred in the 1840s at Camden Park just outside of Adelaide, Australia. Fireman's cap becomes an open, sparse tree with upright to arching branches. At the coldest end of its hardiness, where winters have subfreezing...

(Tufted Poppy)

Tufted poppy is a California native annual that is well-adapted to garden and container use. Bright yellow cup-shaped flowers rise above delicate, gray-green, finely dissected foliage in summer. The numerous four-petal blossoms release a light scent.

Tufted poppy likes sun and poor, well-drained soil and withstands very dry conditions. Challenges to success of this pretty perennial are excessive moisture that can lead to fungal and rot problems. If well-sited it will reseed and may return year...

(Sundew Poppy, Tufted Poppy)

Sundew poppy is a California native annual that is well-adapted to garden and container use. Scented lemon-yellow cup-shaped flowers rise above delicate gray-green finely dissected foliage in summer.

Sundew poppy likes sun and poor, well-drained soil and withstands very dry conditions. Providing strategic watering in summer will prolong flowering but be aware that excessive moisture leads to fungal problems and numerous types of rot. If well-sited it will reseed and may return year after year.

(California Poppy)

What would the California landscape be without blankets of golden orange California poppies? These tough wildflower jewels are equally becoming in the garden and there are quite a few interesting cultivars to choose from. California poppy is a variable species native grasslands of California and Oregon, though it has become naturalized in other parts of the country. It may survive as an annual or short-lived perennial and is very easy to grow if given the correct cultural requirements.

The lacy...

(California Poppy)

What would the California landscape be without blankets of golden orange California poppies? These tough wildflower jewels are equally becoming in the garden and there are quite a few interesting cultivars to choose from. California poppy is a variable species native grasslands of California and Oregon, though it has become naturalized in other parts of the country. It may survive as an annual or short-lived perennial and is very easy to grow if given the correct cultural requirements.

The lacy...