| Name | Lady Banks Rose |
| Genus/Species | Rosa banksiae |
| Family | Rosaceae |
| Type | Evregreen climber, deciduous in colder areas |
| Aka | |
| Origin | China |
| General | Favorite display of yellow roses |
| Use | Climber for trellis or building, intense ground cover |
| Zones | 2 - 24 |
| Sun | Full |
| Water | Regular, deep watering preferred |
| Soil | Average |
| Size | To twenty feet or more, over years becomes immense |
| Plant | |
| Leaf | Small standard rose leaf, thornless |
| Flower | Nose gays of small yellow multi petaled roses |
| Bloom | Early spring for several weeks. then it rains yellow petals |
| Seeds | None |
| Feed | Stamdard rose food |
| Prune | Prune back as you would any rose, train as it grows |
| Prop | Cuttings, soft to med cuttings |
| Enemies | Aphid resistent, almost immune to disease |
| "In Search of Lost Roses" by Thomas Christopher has the following tale:
Mary Gee was a new bride in 1884 when her husband Henry moved from Scotland to Tombstone to supervise his company's mining interest. The young woman followed but she missed the cool, lush greenery of home. So she wrote to her parents for cuttings of the old white rose that grew in their garden. When the bits of rooted cane arrived in 1885, Mary planted one behind "Cochise House," the adobe boarding house where she and her husband had first stayed when they came to Tombstone. The American Rose Annual reported that this rose's trunk had reached a girth of ninety-five inches. Ripley's Believe It or Not and the Guiness Book of World Records took note of this floral monster, which now spreads its branches over eight thousand square feet to bear millions of blossoms annually. |
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| Picture | http://plantsdatabase.com/go/53223/index.html |
| My notes | |
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| Name | Lamb's Ears |
| Genus/Species | Stachys byzantina |
| Family | Labiatae |
| Type | Perennial |
| Origin | Caucasus, Iran |
| Use | Tall ground cover |
| Zones | 1 - 24 |
| Attract | Bees |
| Sun | Full sun to light shade |
| Water | Moderate |
| Soil | Any |
| Size | 1 1/2 feet tall x 1 1/2 feet wide, spreads easily |
| Leaf | Velvety grey |
| Flower | Spike with pink purple flowers, 2' tall |
| Bloom | Summer |
| Seeds | Profuse after flower |
| Prune | Trim flower stalks to help control |
| Prop | Seeds, division, transfer |
| Enemies | Rabbits |
| Warning | Invasive |
| Notes: | Rains and winter make it look slushy, trim up |
| Recovers well from just about anything | |
| Picture | http://plantsdatabase.com/go/138/index.html |
| My notes | This was planted in the front, ended up in the roses and the back...winds? |
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| Name | Lenten Rose |
| Genus/Species | Helleborus orientalis |
| Family | Ranunclaceae |
| Type | Perennial |
| Aka | Christmas Rose is Helleborus niger |
| General | Does not transplant well |
| Use | Under canopies |
| Zones | All zones |
| Sun | Full or partial shade |
| Water | Moderate to ample |
| Soil | Organic matter helps |
| Size | 2 feet, spreads |
| Plant | Fairie looking |
| Leaf | Dark green toothed |
| Flower | Mottled white to green to purple, drooping |
| Bloom | Early spring |
| Seeds | In pods under flowers |
| Feed | Once a year |
| Prune | Cut off dead leaves |
| Prop | Seeds, division |
| Notes: | Transplants easier than the Christmas Rose but still very difficult |
| Picture | http://plantsdatabase.com/go/76/index.html |
| My notes | Seeds are within pods on flower. When they become swollen with slightly reddish edges, pick and dry |
| the black shiny seeds. | |
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Name |
|
| Genus/Species | Belamcanda chinensis |
| Family | Iridaceae |
| Type | Bulb, perennial from rhizome |
| Aka | Blackberry Lily |
| Origin | Asia |
| General | Distinctive flower.most effective planted in clumps |
| Use | Naturalized garden, background filler |
| Attract | Bees |
| Zones | 1 - 24 |
| Sun | Full sun to partial sun |
| Water | Regular |
| Soil | Average |
| Size | 3 - 4 feet |
| Leaf | Sword like in fan groupings |
| Flower | Six petaled 2-3" orange with red spots |
| Bloom | Spring to summer |
| Seeds | Black berries inside pods after bloom |
| Feed | Standard |
| Prune | Trim off flowers and pods after bloom or pod set |
| Prop | Seeds, division |
| Notes: | Easy to grow from seed |
| Sparse plant, best in groups | |
| Flowers are open only one day but continually bloom day after day | |
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| Name | Licorice |
| Genus/Species | Glycyrrhiza glabra |
| Family | Fabaceae |
| Type | Herb herbaceous |
| Aka | |
| Origin | |
| General | Highly prized for medicinal properties |
| Use | |
| Zones | |
| Attract | |
| Sun | Full or partial, perfers full with lots of water |
| Water | Moderate in mild sun |
| Soil | Rich for long tap roots |
| Size | 4 - 6 feet |
| Plant | Delicate stems with lovely branchettes |
| Leaf | Light green ovals |
| Flower | Tiny white to blue or lav |
| Bloom | Summer |
| Seeds | |
| Feed | |
| Prune | |
| Prop | |
| Picture | http://plantsdatabase.com/go/286/index.html |
| My notes | |
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Name |
|
| Genus/Species | Syringa vulgaris |
| Family | Oleaceae |
| Type | Perennial deciduous shrub |
| Aka | Common Lilac, French Lilac |
| Origin | Eastern Europe, the word lilac is traced to Persia |
| Use | Old fashioned garden background |
| Attract | Bees, hummers |
| Zones | 1 - 11, 14 |
| Sun | Full sun, light shade in hotter climates |
| Water | Regular |
| Soil | Average |
| Size | To 20' x 20' |
| Leaf | 5" rounded oval with pointed tips |
| Flower | Clusters 10" or more, legendary fragrance |
| Bloom | Spring |
| Seeds | Pods form after flowering |
| Feed | Standard |
| Prune | Trim after flowering or seed collection |
| Prune out suckers on grafted plants | |
| Prop | Seeds, layering |
| Notes: | Mild winters mean little bloom next year, stop watering to force into dormancy |
| Needs 2 - 5 years to bloom fully | |
| Susceptible to mildew | |
| Name | Lily - Amaryllis Howardii |
| Genus/Species | Amaryllis memoria-corsii Howardii |
| Family | Amaryllidaceae |
| Type | Bulb |
| Origin | Hybrid between Amaryllis belladonna and Crinum moorei |
| General | Lovely rare lily |
| Use | Lovely landscaping plant |
| Zones | 8, 9, 12-24 |
| Attract | Bees, hummers |
| Sun | Full to partial, see notes |
| Water | Moderate, can survive without |
| Soil | Any |
| Size | 2 - 3 feet tall, as wide in groupings of ten or more |
| Leaf | Long wide swords, almost like paper, brilliant light green |
| Flower | Three or more pink trumpets at the end of a leafless stalk, each flower on a 'finger' like a Naked Lady. Lightest pink to white and scented. |
| Bloom | August? |
| Seeds | Pods at the ends of the fingers contain seeds, dont dry them |
| Prune | In winter the greenery gets slimy |
| Prop | Division or seeds or off shoots |
| Enemies | Snails |
| Danger | Belladonna is poisonous, so....? |
| Notes: | Western Sunset says get a off shoot from a friend as these are rare |
| Picture | http://plantsdatabase.com/go/49003/index.html |
| My notes | We had ours below an extensive Mulberry tree in complete shade. We lost the branch last May, the lily leaves had dead edges but then she adjusted and did fine. Somehow, one bulb ended up in another location in sull sun, that produces a dark pink flower. |
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| Name | Lily of the Nile, Storm Cloud |
| Genus/Species | Agapanthus oritentalis |
| Family | Amarylidaceae |
| Type | Evergreen Perenial |
| Aka | |
| Origin | |
| General | |
| Use | |
| Zones | |
| Attracts | Hummers, bees |
| Sun | Full to partial |
| Water | Moderate |
| Soil | Any |
| Size | Plants rounds to 4 feet |
| Plant | Rounded mass of sword leaves |
| Leaf | Thick bright sword |
| Flower | Deep purple blue trumpets forming a ball on tall stalk |
| Bloom | Summer |
| Seeds | |
| Prune | None required |
| Prop | Division |
| Enemies | Snails |
| Notes: | |
| Picture | http://plantsdatabase.com/go/64232/index.html |
| My notes | |
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| Name | Lisianthus |
| Genus/Species | Eustoma grandiflorum Lisianthis russellianus |
| Family | Gentianaceae |
| Type | Biennial, short perennial, herbaceous |
| Aka | Texas Bluebell |
| Origin | Garden types from Japan |
| General | |
| Hardy | Hardy in the cold, best where nights are warm |
| Use | Cut flowers |
| Zones | All |
| Attract | Bees, Butterflies, Birds |
| Sun | Full sun |
| Water | Regular water, do not overwater? Remove trays!! |
| Soil | Standard potting mix, good drainage |
| Size | 12 - 18" |
| Plant | Multi stemmed |
| Leaf | Grey green |
| Flower | Pink, purple, white |
| Bloom | Spring, Summer, Fall |
| Seeds | Dust like seeds |
| Feed | |
| Prune | Cut spent flowers for rebloom |
| Pinch for larger growth and bloom | |
| Prop | Sprinkle seeds on soil surface. Soak well, cover with glass Transplant at 4 leaf stage (2 months) |
| Enemies | |
| Danger | |
| Notes: | |
| Picture | |
| My notes | I have killed these every year, try bringing them inside this winter? |
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| Name | Loropetalum |
| Genus/Species | Loropetalum chinese |
| Family | Hamamelidaceae |
| Type | Evergreen shrub, tender |
| Aka | Chinese Witch Hazel, Chinese Fringe Flower |
| Origin | China |
| General | Excellent landscape |
| Needs protection in hard freezes | |
| Zones | 6-9, 14-24, borderline in 4-5 |
| Sun | Full on coast, partial shade inland. Avoid afternoon sun |
| Water | Some summer water |
| Soil | Rich, well drained, peat or gravelly also reported |
| Size | 3 - 5 feet tall, 3' wide (reportedly 12' tall with age) |
| Plant | Round lush bush |
| Leaf | Round, soft light green, purple cast |
| Flower | White to green clusters |
| Bloom | March to April |
| Seeds | Seeds pods form after flowers, contains millions of teensy seeds |
| Prop | Seeds or cuttings |
| Picture | http://plantsdatabase.com/go/1536/index.html |
| My picture of the seed pods uploaded Aug 10 | |
| My notes | This plant is in almost complete shade and does well |
| Seeds sprouted after several weeks | |
| Rubrium or Razzleberry has purple leaves and bright rosy pink flowers | |
| Mine has yellow flowers and green leaves whose edges purple in the fall | |
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