(Endive, Green Curled Ruffec Endive)

An heirloom variety grown since about 1860, endive ‘Green Curled Ruffec’ is noted for its tolerance to cold, wet conditions. The leaves are much divided and curled or frisée, dark green with a creamy center and have thick tender ribs. This variety is a good choice for salads as wells as cooked, either steamed or boiled. Harvest this selection about 90 days after planting.

This leafy vegetable is surprisingly a member of the daisy family along with radicchio and chicory and easily grown in the...

(Endive)

Big gorgeous heads with tender blanched hearts make escarole ‘Natacha’ a favorite of commercial and home gardeners. The plants are resistant to tipburn, bolting and bottom rot. Natacha is ready fro harvest 48 to 60 days from planting. This selection is great in salads or cooked.

This leafy vegetable is surprisingly a member of the daisy family along with radicchio and chicory and easily grown in the home garden. Thought to be native to India and possible Asia, endive is naturalized in Europe,...

(Radicchio, Wild Chicory)

Native to Europe and the Mediterranean and naturalized worldwide, wild chicory is a clumping perennial grown for its long, lobed, edible leaves and for its stout taproot, which is used as a coffee substitute. It also has medicinal uses, and is sometimes cultivated in ornamental gardens for its flowers.

"Leaf chicories" come in several types. The bitter, dandelion-like leaves of loose-leaf chicories are good in salads (when young) or in cooked dishes. Witloof or Belgian endive bears erect heads...

(Canela, Cinnamon Plant)

A cold-tender broadleaf evergreen tree with a rounded crown, canela is native to Taiwan. Its large oval leathery leaves are glossy medium green and have three obvious veins. Bruised leaves exude a faint scent of cinnamon. In late winter the branches display clusters of many small light yellow flowers. After pollination by insects, small, pea-sized green fruits appear and mature to chocolate brown.

Grow this smal tree in the landscape in frost-free locations, or as a houseplant in colder climes....

(Cinnamon, Cinnamon Bark Tree)

One of the earliest recorded spices, dating back to at least 3000 B.C., cinnamon is an aromatic plant that has essential oils throughout all its parts. A slow-growing, tropical broadleaf evergreen tree that attains a gloriously broad but rounded canopy, it is native to Sri Lanka and southernmost India. Its bark is smooth and gray-brown; the spice is dervied by stripping the tree of the brown inner bark layer and allowed to dry to the familiar orange-brown tone in stick-like quills. The unripe fruits,...

(Acre Grape Ivy)

Lacking tendrils and producing two differently shaped leaves, the Acre grape ivy also differs from other members of the Cissus genus by producing dark purple berries with large seeds. As the name reveals, this evergreen tropical vine or liana hails from northern Brazil, including the state of Acre and across the Amazon Basin.

The green leaves vary in shape depending on the stem. On branches that yield the tiny pinkish green flowers, the leaves are more triangular in shape, and other...

(Grape Ivy)

Given its name for its black fruits, grape ivy boasts handsomely toothed leaves that are glossy and green. A modest, climbing or rambling evergreen vine, it hails from Central and South America and the Caribbean Basin.

The leaves are trifoliate, each comprised of three leaflets that are rhombus-shaped with sparse teeth on their edges. Light bronze-green when young, the leaves mature to a deeper green and bear red hairs on their underside. In summer, unshowy, haired green flowers appear and give...

(Ellen Danica Grape Ivy, Grape Ivy)

Given its name for its black fruits, grape ivy selection 'Ellen Danica' boasts handsomely toothed leaves that are deep glossy green upon hairy stems. A modest, climbing or rambling evergreen vine, it hails from Central and South America and the Caribbean Basin.

The leaves are trifoliate, each comprised of three leaflets that are rhombus-shaped with sparse teeth on their edges. Light bronze-green when young, the leaves mature to a deeper green and bear red hairs on their underside. In summer,...

(Kangaroo Ivy Cissus, Kangaroo Vine)

The common name "kangaroo vine" fittingly traces this tropical evergreen vine to northern Australia. In its native environment, it grows in or near the rainforest. In the home and garden, it is valued for its glossy, deep green, leathery leaves that remain attractive in both sunshine and shade. It makes a trusty houseplant, tender patio specimen or tropical outdoor vine.

Pointed, oval leaves with serrated edges and prominent veins densely line the climbing stems of kangaroo vine. Nor surprisingly,...

(Coral Vine)

Dubbed the coral vine because of the attractive clusters of tiny coral-red flowers, this evergreen tropical vine or liana is native from Mexico to Panama. Its light yellow green leaves mature a glassy bright kelly green. Each leaf comprises three point leaflets. Opposite the leaves on the stems are tendrils that firmly clasp onto tree trunks or other support features. The flowering stems bear scores of tiny coral flowers and collectively make an attractive seasonal feature in summer. Flowers are...