January 5-9, 2016
Artemisia schmidtiana
Common name: silver mound, wormwood
Family name: Asteraceae
Leaf: Alternate, bipinnately compound dissected silvery green fine foliage, pubescent , linear, pinnately lobed margins
Flower/bud: Panicle-like capitulum, yellow flowers, unpleasant odor
Fruit/Seed: Achene
Size: Up to 1.5′
Habit: Spreading
Form: Mounding, mat-like
Culture: Full sun, gravely, rocky, dry, well drained soil
Landscape use: Bedding plant, accent plant. container plant, dry areas, ground cover, group or mass planting, perennial border
Origin: South East Asia, Japan, China
Notes: Rhizomatous
Brachyglottis greyi
Common name: ragwort, daisy bush
Family name: Asteraceae
Leaf: Simple, alternate pinnate venation, leathery, pubescent, dark green, grey, silvery foliage, elliptic, ovate, crenate, undulate margins, white margins
Flower/bud: Corymbs of yellow ray florets from early summer to mid summer
Fruit/Seed: Achene
Size: Up to 2 meters
Habit: Dense, mounding
Form: Oval-horizontal
Culture: Full sun, well drained soil
Landscape use: Rock garden, perennial border, shrub border, accent plant, winter interest, summer interest
Origin: New Zealand
Notes: Evergreen
Cistus x hybridus
Common name: rock rose
Family name: Cistaceae
Leaf: Simple, opposite, deep pinnate venation, pubescent, soft, flexible, scallop- like, ovate, acute apex, rounded base, undulate margins
Flower/bud: Showy white or dark pink, 5 petaled saucer-like flowers borne in terminal or axillary cymes in late spring to early summer
Fruit/Seed: aborted or abscent (hybrid)
Size: Up to 1.3 meters
Habit: Dense
Form: Mounded
Culture: Full sun, dry, rocky, gravely well drained soil, tolerant of salinity
Landscape use: Dry areas, rock gardens, perennial border, hedge row
Origin: South Europe, Turkey, North Africa, Canary islands
Notes: Often short lived, get leggy in organic soil, can not prune back into old wood
Cistus laurifolius
Common name: laurel leafed rock rose
Family name: Cistaceae
Leaf: Simple, opposite, pubescent, dark green-blue ovate leaves, undersides lighter due to trichomes, sticky aromatic foliage, undulate margins, cuspidate apex, leaves point downwards
Flower/bud: Showy white or dark pink, 5 petaled saucer-like flowers borne in terminal or axillary cymes in late spring to early summer
Fruit/Seed: Umbel of capsules
Size: Up to 2 meters
Habit: Upright
Form: Horizontal-oval
Culture: Full sun, rocky, dry gravely well drained soil, tolerates salinity
Landscape use: Dry areas, rock gardens, container gardens, sheltered locations
Origin: Mediterranean Europe
Notes: Often short lived, gets leggy, can’t prune back into old wood, erect shrub, get leggy in organic soil
Helianthemum x hybridum
Common name: rock rose
Family name: Cistaceae
Leaf: Opposite, oblong-linear silver grey-green foliage
Flower/bud: Raceme-like cymes of saucer-shaped 5 petaled, bright colored flowers, borne from late spring to mid summer
Fruit/Seed:
Size: Up to 1′
Habit: Spreading, creeping
Form: Mat-like, mounding
Culture: Full sun, rocky, gravely, dry well drained soil
Landscape use: Bedding plant, rock garden, container, raised beds, mixed border, ground cover
Origin: North and South America, Asia, Europe and North Africa
Notes: Sub shrub, short lived in organic soils
Laurus nobilis
Common name: sweet bay
Family name: Lauraceae
Leaf: Simple, alternate, glabrous, glossy, dark green aromatic narrowly ovate leaves
Flower/bud: Small greenish-yellow flowers
Fruit/Seed: Glossy, black berry
Size: Up to 12 meters
Habit: Ascending branches
Form: Conical tree or shrub
Culture: Full sun, partial shade, moist fertile soil, shelter from cold and drying winds
Landscape use: Aromatic interest, winter interest, tall background, accent plant, woodland garden, specimen plant, topiary, against warm sunny wall
Origin: Mediterranean Z 8-11 H 12-1
Notes: Contact may aggravate skin allergies, broad leaf evergreen, leaves are used in cooking for flavor but are not edible to eat. Plants are dioecious
Lavandula angustifolia
Common name: English lavender
Family name: Lamiaceae
Leaf: Opposite, leathery, very aromatic, tomentose, lanceolate-linear, light green-silvery foliage, obtuse-rounded apex, truncate base, entire margins
Flower/bud: Spike-like verticillaster purple aromatic tubular(bilabiate) flowers
Fruit/Seed: Brown nut
Size: Up to 3′
Habit: Dense, spreading, upright
Form: Oval-horizontal
Culture: Full sun, rocky, gravely dry well drained soil, Z 5-8 H 8-5
Landscape use: Aromatic interest, attracts beneficial insects including butterflies container, winter interest, accent plant, mixed shrub border planting, dried flower, tall ground cover, group or mass planting, rock garden, dry areas, summer interest
Origin: Western Mediterranean, Europe
Notes: Broad leaf evergreen, do not prune back into old wood
Lavandula stoechas
Common name: Spanish lavender
Family name: Lamiaceae
Leaf: Simple, opposite, sessile, tomentose, silvery-grey, linear, truncate base, rounded apex, entire margin
Flower/bud: Spike-like verticillaster, dark purple aromatic, salverform flowers with distinctive erect dark purple bracts at the apex of the spike like inflorescence
Fruit/Seed: Nut
Size: 1-2′
Habit: Spreading, upright
Form: Round-mounded
Culture: Full sun, rocky, gravely dry well drained soil
Landscape use: Aromatic interest, attracts beneficial insects including butterflies container, winter interest, accent plant, mixed shrub border planting, dried flower, tall ground cover, group or mass planting, rock garden, dry areas, summer interest
Origin: Mediterranean
Notes: Broad leaf evergreen
Perovskia atriplicifolia
Common name: Russian sage
Family name: Lamiaceae
Leaf: Opposite, simple, loped, silvery grey-green foliage, distinctive aromatics, lanceolate, perfoliate, crenate, dentate, pinnately lobed margins
Flower/bud: Small purple tubular flowers borne on tall spike like verticillaster inflorescence, bloom time mid summer to early fall
Fruit/Seed: Brown nut
Size: Up to 2 meters
Habit: Arching, spreading, upright
Form: Oval-vertical
Culture: Full sun, dry, rocky, gravely well drained soil
Landscape use: Dry land, aromatic interest, fall interest, herbal interest, tall background, accent plant
Origin: Afghanistan
Notes: sub shrub, very hardy
Phlomis fruticosa
Common name: Jerusalem sage
Family name: Lamiaceae
Leaf: Sage-like, ovate-lanceolate, simple, pubescent, slight involute margins
Flower/bud: Whorls of yellow flowers borne on verticillaster inflorescence
Fruit/Seed: Brown nut
Size: Up to 1.3 meters
Habit: Upright
Form: Mounding
Culture: Full sun, fertile well drained soil, will tolerate part shade
Landscape use: Borders, meadow, summer interest, winter interest, bedding plant, accent plant, mass or group planting
Origin: Eastern Mediterranean
Notes: Broad leaf evergreen in zone 8-10, shrubby version of Phlomis russelliana
Rosmarinus officinalis
Common name: rosemary
Family name: Lamiaceae
Leaf: Simple, opposite decussate, aromatic, leathery, tomentose, linear, entire margins
Flower/bud: White, pink, purple, violet or blue bilabiate aromatic flowers borne on spike-like verticillaster inflorescence
Fruit/Seed: Brown nut
Size: Up to 1.3 meters
Habit: Irregular, spreading, upright
Form: Oval-horizontal
Culture: Full sun, rocky, alkaline, dry, gravely well draining soil
Landscape use: Container, attracts butterflies, herb interest, aromatic interest, accent plant, dry land, dried flowers or fruit, medicinal, topiary, mixed shrub border
Origin: Europe (Mediterranean)
Notes:
Salvia officinalis
Common name: common sage
Family name: Lamiaceae
Leaf: Opposite decussate, tomentose, very aromatic, soft and flexible, oblong-ovate, acute-rounded apex, serrate margins
Flower/bud: Purple fragrant bilabiate flowers borne on spike-like verticillaster inflorescence
Fruit/Seed: Brown nut
Size: Up to 1.3 meters
Habit: Upright, spreading
Form: Oval-vertical
Culture: Full sun, part sun, rocky, dry, gravely well draining soil
Landscape use: Fall interest, aromatic interest, herb, medicinal, perennial border, winter interest, summer interest
Origin: Europe, Africa
Notes: Hardy evergreen
Santolina chamaecyparissus
Common name: cotton lavender
Family name: Asteraceae
Leaf: simple, alternate, soft, flexible, tomentose, aromatic, silver-grey-light green
Flower/bud: Yellow fragrant capitulum
Fruit/Seed: Achene
Size: Up to 2.5′
Habit: Dense, spreading
Form: Mounded
Culture: Full sun, rocky, gravely, dry well drained soil
Landscape use: alpine, bedding plant, rock garden, accent plant, aromatic interest, container, group or mass planting, year round interest
Origin: Europe
Notes: Broad leaf evergreen
Sarcococca hookeriana
Common name: sweet box
Family name: Buxaceae
Leaf: Glabrous, lustrous, laneolate, simple, opposite, leathery, acuminate apex, cuneate base, entire margins
Flower/bud: Pink-white inconspicuous flowers, very fragrant, blooms in mid to late winter
Fruit/Seed: Black berry like drupes
Size: Up to 1.5 meters
Habit: Upright, spreading
Form: Mounding
Culture: Deep shade, part shade/part sun moist well drained organic soil, under-story plant, acidic or alkaline soil, Zone 6
Landscape use: Shady locations, container plant, winter interest, winter fragrance, ground cover, mixed shrub border, group or mass planting, woodland margin
Origin: China
Notes: Evergreen, thicket forming, rhizomatous, suckering
Satureja montana
Common name: Winter savoury
Family name: Lamiaceae
Leaf: Simple, opposite, sessile, dark-green glabrous, oblanceolate, acute-aristate apex, attenuate-truncate base, serrulate margins
Flower/bud:Small, perfect, bilabiate, white, lavender-pink to purple flowers borne on a spike-like verticillaster inflorescence in late summer to early or mid fall
Fruit/Seed: Brown nut
Size: Up to 1.5′
Habit: Upright
Form: Mounded
Culture: Full sun, part sun, part shade, moderately fertile well drained neutral to slightly alkaline soil
Landscape use: Herb, container, perennial border
Origin: Mediterranean (southern Europe)
Notes: Dwarf sub shrub, semi evergreen
Teucrium chamaedrys
Common name: wall germander
Family name: Lamiaceae
Leaf: Oblong-ovate, glossy, entire to toothed dark green leaves, aromatic
Flower/bud: Whorls of bilabiate, pink to purple, sometimes white flowers borne on spike-like verticillaster inflorescence
Fruit/Seed: Brown nut
Size: Up to 1.5′
Habit: Dense, ascending and spreading stems
Form: Clump forming
Culture: Full sun, medium to dry well drained soil, tolerates poor soils provided drainage is good, prefers sheltered location and winter protection
Landscape use: Low hedge, knot garden, container, ground cover, fragrance, winter interest
Origin: Europe and southwest Asia
Notes: Broad leaf evergreen, sub shrub, pinch or shear if becomes leggy
Teucrium fruticans
Common name: shrubby germander
Family name: Lamiaceae
Leaf: White to light-green pubescent ovate-lanceolate aromatic foliage
Flower/bud: Whorls of pale blue-violet bilabiate flowers borne on spike-like verticillaster inflorescence, blooms in mid to late summer
Fruit/Seed: Brown nut
Size: Up to 2.5′
Habit: Dense, arching
Form: Oval-horizontal, bushy
Culture: Full sun, preferably neutral to alkaline well drained
Landscape use: Topiary, container, accent plant, carpet bedding, knot garden
Origin: Western and Central Mediterranean
Notes: Evergreen shrub
Thymus pseudolanuginosus
Common name: wooly thyme
Family name: Lamiaceae
Leaf: Simple, opposite, pubescent, soft and flexible, silver-grey-green, elliptic, obtuse apex, obtuse base, ciliate margins
Flower/bud: Small pink fragrant flowers, not showy borne on verticillaster infloresence in early summer to mid summer
Fruit/Seed: Brown nut
Size: 2-3 cm
Habit: Dense, spreading
Form: Creeping, mat-like
Culture: Full sun, rocky, gravely, sandy, dry well drained soil
Landscape use: Ground cover, plant in between pavers, container, alpine, rock garden, aromatic interest, group or mass planting, perennial border, accent, specimen plant
Origin: Europe
Notes: Broad leaf evergreen
Thymus serpyllum
Common name: mother of thyme
Family name: Lamiaceae
Leaf: Simple, opposite, soft, flexible, aromatic, elliptic, linear, ovate, ciliate margins
Flower/bud: Showy, pink, purple, magenta, fragrant, floriferous flower clusters borne in mid summer
Fruit/Seed: Brown nut
Size: Up to 6′
Habit: Dense, spreading
Form: Creeping, mat-like
Culture: Full sun, rocky, gravely, sandy, dry well drained soils
Landscape use: Ground cover, container, herb, aromatic interest, attracts beneficial insects, perennial border, summer interest
Origin: Europe
Notes: Broad leaf evergreen
Umbellularia californica
Common name: California bay laurel
Family name: Lauraceae
Leaf: Leathery, glabrous, alternate, lanceolate, entire margins,
Flower/bud: Small yellow to yellowish-green flowers borne in umbels
Fruit/Seed: Cylindrical green berry, maturing to purple
Size: Up to 18 meters
Habit: Dense, multi-stemmed
Form: Round
Culture: Full sun, well drained acidic soil, where not hardy shelter from drying winds and cold
Landscape use: Aromatic interest
Origin: Western United States
Notes: Evergreen, fragrance from crushed leaves can cause headaches and nausea, some people refer to it as the headache tree, host to the pathogen that cause sudden oak death, sought after by woodworkers as it’s considered world-class tonewood
sumsgreenthumbs 