… One look at the striking red-purple color of the foliage and you can see why this Dyckia is named Grape Jelly. You can also see why the common name for … to arid, rocky terrain high in the mountains of Brazil, so they're very drought tolerant, and more cold tolerant than any other Bromeliad. In fact, they're considered to have the most … season they need more frequent watering, but keep them on the dry side the rest of the year, and bring them indoors in winter. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… sucker nor does it bear edible fruits like true bananas. In warmer climates it is a perennial and can grow to a height of thirty or forty feet but in cultivation in cold climates where the … requires consistently moist, but well-drained soil, a location sheltered from strong winds, and full sun. Maurelli red banana is reputedly less amenable to digging up for overwintering so cultivation as potted specimen may be preferable. This plant is not hardy in Chicago and must be brought inside for overwintering. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Sea holly ( Eryngium 'Big Blue') dazzles the eye with iridescent blue flowers with blue stems and leaves in an inflorescence resembling a candelabra. Flowers continue to be produced over a … on a plant that matures about 30 inches tall by 18 inches wide. It is a butterfly attractant, and its seeds are a favorite of songbirds, but deer avoid it, as they do not like the prickly … for candelabra-like umbels of flowers—this striking plant needs well-drained soil and full sun to reach maximum coloration. The flowers of this genus have long been treasured by …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… 12 feet high, with a nice rounded habit. The broad three-inch leaves have long petioles and are arranged in whorls of three. The plants take full sun or light shade, and are drought-tolerant. The species name "cotinifolius" refers to Cotinus , the genus for our … bush, which it resembles from a distance. This is more closely related to poinsettias, though, and it has milky sap that can be irritating to the skin. During summer it produces clusters of …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Crown-of-thorns is a slow-growing tropical shrub with a rambling growth habit and sharply thorny stems. Plants can grow to 3 feet by 3 feet on this Madagascar native that may … is a mix of variously-colored plants bred in Thailand, with larger flowers than the species and large leaves. At the Chicago Botanic Garden, crown-of-thorns bloom all 12 months of the year in the greenhouses. Plants require full sun, moderate temperatures, and low humidity. The milky latex sap of this Madagascar native "bleeds" when stems are cut; the …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… suffused with chocolate brown. Kohlerias are characterized by soft, ovate scalloped leaves and tubular flowers that are covered with soft fuzz. Related to African violets, the leaves are often suffused with purple or brown. The tubes, which are an inch or two long are inflated and flare out into five spotted lobes. In the right conditions (indoors) kohlerias grow quickly and will need to be pinched back after flowering. They do well in sunlight from a south-facing …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… White flowers in May are followed by abundant yellow-green fruit, which turn bright red and persist into winter. Fall foliage color is yellow and red. Viburnums are a versatile genus of multi-stemmed shrubs that are well suited to the home landscape due to their range of sizes and cultural adaptability. Some viburnums are noted for their fragrant flowers; most bear small …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… in height in a single growing season when grown in full sun, in well-drained but moist soils, and given moderate fertilizer. This native of tropical Central and South America was described by Thomas Jefferson in 1792: "The most beautiful bean in the … bean, which though in England a glass-house plant, may grow in the open air in Virginia and Carolina." The species name is a derivation of the Portuguese caracal (snail), in reference …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… The simple but elegant flowers of this tulip are narrow and flaring at the tips. The petals are white, with a broad green stripe. Because of the shape, … with sandy soils, where the bulbs have been inter-planted between herbaceous perennials and shrubs whose roots absorb excess summer rainfall and irrigation water. It will also return the next year if planted in a part of the garden that …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… to the upland areas of the eastern US where it grows in areas that are consistently moist and bright. It bears bracts of one inch bright purple flowers in late summer to mid-fall … of tall color in the late season. Broad-leaved ironweed grows to a height of about six feet and a width of about five feet in sunny conditions, and slightly less in shadier spots. It can become weedy, so care should be taken in siting it …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
