(Chionodoxa, Glory-of-the-Snow)

Carpeting the garden with starry flowers very early in the year, these little bulbs from the eastern Mediterranean are wonderful for massing in borders and lawns. Hardy and self-reliant, they produce clusters of blue, violet, pink, or white blooms atop short leafless stems in late winter and early spring. Two short grass-like leaves emerge with the flowers, going dormant within a few weeks. The flowers and leaves grow from small rounded bulbs covered with brown tunics. Plants often self-seed to form...

(Chionodoxa, Pink Giant Glory-of-the-Snow, Pink Glory-of-the-Snow)

Carpeting the garden with starry flowers very early in the year, 'Pink Giant' is wonderful for massing in borders and lawns. A selection or hybrid of the Turkish native Chionodoxa forbesii, this hardy, self-reliant little bulb produces clusters of pink, white-eyed blooms atop short leafless stems in late winter and early spring. Two short grass-like leaves emerge with the flowers, going dormant within a few weeks. The flowers and leaves grow from small rounded bulbs covered with brown tunics....

(Chionodoxa, Glory-of-the-Snow)

Carpeting the garden with starry flowers very early in the year, this little bulb from Turkey is wonderful for massing in borders and lawns. Hardy and self-reliant, it produces clusters of four to 12 deep blue blooms atop short leafless stems in late winter and early spring. The flowers have a small white eye. Two grass-like leaves emerge with the blooms, going dormant within a few weeks. The flowers and leaves grow from small rounded bulbs covered with brown tunics. Plants often self-sow to form...

(Chionodoxa, White Chionodoxa, White Glory-of-the-Snow)

Carpeting the garden with starry flowers very early in the year, 'Alba' is wonderful for massing in borders and lawns. A selection of the Turkish native Chionodoxa forbesii, this hardy, self-reliant little bulb produces clusters of pure dazzling white blooms atop short leafless stems in late winter and early spring. Two short grass-like leaves emerge with the flowers, going dormant within a few weeks. The flowers and leaves grow from small rounded bulbs covered with brown tunics. Plants...

(Chionodoxa, Glory-of-the-Snow)

Charming small bulbous plants that are among the first of all garden plants to bloom in spring. The short tapering leaves precede the thin flowers stems which divide at the top into clusters of up to three star-shaped blue flowers with white centers. Foliage remains for a few weeks after the spring blooming before withering and the plant goes dormant by early summer.

Native to Turkey, this bulb should be planted in sun or part shade exposures in fertile, well drained soil. It will grow and multiply...

(Lesser Chionodoxa, Lesser Glory-of-the-Snow)

Echoing the early spring sky with its low, starry, deep blue flowers, this little charmer from western Turkey bears many deep blue blossoms early in the year. A hardy, self-reliant, bulbous perennial, it produces up to 12 flowers atop short leafless stems. The blooms have small white eyes. Two short grass-like leaves emerge with the flowers, going dormant within a few weeks. The flowers and leaves grow from small rounded bulbs covered with brown tunics. Plants often self-sow to form large colonies....

(Spider Plant)

Probably the most popular houseplant of all time, spider plant produces a spreading clump of broad, arching, green blades. It is typically grown as a hanging basket specimen because it produces long, pendulous, wiry stems with lots of spidery plantlets at the tips, hence the common name. The most popular variety in commerce is the variegated form, ‘Variegatum.’ The species is native to South Africa where it exists in upland and lowland forests, so it naturally grows well in shade.

The long,...

(Spider Plant, Variegated Spider Plant)

The variegated spider plant is the most commonly grown form. It has attractive thin strap-like leaves of green edged with white. The plants are tender, but vigorous and prolific.

Chlorophytum cosmosum is indigenous to South Africa. It is a clump-forming tender perennial that’s primarily cultivated as an annual or houseplant. Spider plant spreads slowly by thick rhizomes (underground stems) that are easily divided. Its grassy strap-like leaves are delicate, green and white-edged....

(Spider Plant, Variegated Spider Plant)

Forming a clumping tuft of dark green and ivory leaves that often arch or curl backwards, 'Vittatum' is a showy selection of the common spider plant. Indigenous to South Africa this is a frost-tender, clump-forming perennial that is often used as a tropical groundcover or hanging basket houseplant. Spider plant spreads by rhizomes (underground stems) and by young plants borne on the sprawling or dangling stems.

Grass-like leaves are dark green but with a central band of ivory. Plants produce small,...

(Mexican Orange, Mexican Orange Blossom, Mock Orange)

Sweet, citrusy-smelling white flowers adorn the branches of Mexican orange from very late winter to autumn. An evergreen subtropical shrub from the higher elevations of Mexico, it has glossy, compound foliage, each leaf composed of three, oval leaflets that are fragrant if crushed. In late winter, clusters of five-petaled white blossoms cover the plant, emitting an intoxicating fragrance like that of orange blossoms, and attracting honeybees. The first blooming season lasts for weeks, and then flowering...