TOP TEN Plants for Kids & Husbands The plants in this catalogue are available at Phoenix Perennials this year with many also available by mail order. Phoenix Perennials and Specialty Plants Ltd. 3380 No. 6 Rd. Richmond, BC V6V 1P5 604-270-4133 info@phoenixperennials.com www.phoenixperennials.com
1 Acmella oleracea Asteraceae (The Aster Family) This crazy petal-less daisy from Brazil is an intriguing tropical that produces a cool numbing, tingling, popping sensation like electricity or fizzy candy on your tongue and lips when you eat the button-like flowers. Have fun sampling it in your garden or use it in salads or cocktails for some culinary excitement. Flowers are produced all summer long into fall. Perennials p. 1 Electric Daisy, Toothache Plant 9b-11 H under W 4-8" Summer - Fall Albuca spiralis 'Frizzle Sizzle' Hyacinthaceae (The Hyacinth Family) This zany South African zone 8 bulb has got to have some of the most surprising foliage in the botanical world. The semi-succulent leaves seem like they're going to be normal but then they spiral into dizzying swirls of leafy wonder. This is a perfect addition to a succulent collection. The flowers grow on spikes and are yellow-green. Untried outdoors in coastal BC so likely best as a pot plant to be safe. Green 8-10 Corkscrew Albuca H 8-12" W 8-12" Spring Amorphophallus bulbifer Long Stem Form Araceae (The Arum Family) A weird and wonderful plant from the Arum family, Amorphophallus bulbifer is one of the prettiest of the genus with a soft pink spathe, a creamy-white central spadix and a much milder fragrance compared to other species. The stems are beautifully mottled with cream and green. The species name refers to the bulbils that form in the leaf axils. The bulb will go dormant by fall. Bring the pot inside to a cool, dry place. Begin watering when you see the spike of the tightly-furled stem poking out of the soil in spring. 9-10 Devil's Tongue Pink H 2-4' W 12-24" Spring Part Shade
Amorphophallus nepalense Araceae (The Arum Family) Amorphophallus nepalense has enormous yellowgreen spathes up to one and a half feet long and beautifully mottled stems. The bulb will go dormant by fall. Bring the pot inside to a cool, dry place. Begin watering when you see the spike of the tightly-furled stem poking out of the soil in spring. 9-10 Perennials p. 2 Devil's Tongue Green H 2-4' W 12-24" Spring Part Shade Amorphophallus rivieri Konjac Devil s Tongue Araceae (The Arum Family) 6-10 Amorphophallus 'Konjac' is a weird and wonderful plant from the Arum family grown from Indonesia to Japan for its edible tuber. Ornamentally, it is grown for the incredible 4-5 tall deep red, jack-in-the-pulpittype inflorescence in spring, followed by the attractive and intriguing spotted stem and single large umbrella-like dissected leaf for the whole of summer. Sounds great, right? Here s the clincher: you just have to make it through the few days in spring when the flower smells like rotting meat! It s certainly FRAGRANT! Red H 4-6' W 2-3' Spring Full - Part Artemisia arbrotanum Asteraceae (The Aster Family) Southernwood (Artemisia arbrotanum) is a totallyforgotten ancient garden herb with superb finetextured aromatic foliage that provides excellent texture all year long PLUS a fruity camphor-like fragrance to the leaves that is reminiscent of Coca Cola! Trim hard in late winter to maintain a bushy habit. ish insignificant flowers can be removed or left on the plant. Coca Cola Plant, Southernwood 3-9 H 2-4' W 2-3' Spring - Fall Loves
Dionaea muscipula Perennials p. 3 Venus Flytrap Droseraceae (The dew Family) 6-8 The Venus flytrap is every child's favourite carnivorous plant. Husbands can also be entertained for hours. Venus flytraps are cute little bog denizens that grow in nutrient poor soils. They have evolved the ability to acquire the nutrients they need by capturing insects with their quickly closing, claw-like pads which are modified leaves. Grow in full sun sitting in a dish of water. Can be grown as a houseplant as well. Photo courtesy: Wikipedia. Pink H under W under Spring Drosera capensis Droseraceae (The dew Family) Drosera capensis, also known as Cape sundew, is a small, canivorous plant native to the Cape of South Africa. It forms a rosette of strap-like green leaves that end in long paddles covered in red glandular hairs that secrete a sticky mucilage that traps and digests insects. The tentacles will also curl up to enclose the the bug! Grow outdoors in the summer and indoors in winter. Great for trapping fruit flies! Pink Kalanchoe thyrsiflora Octopus Plant, dew 9-11 H under W under Spring Crassulaceae (The Crassula Family) This beautiful Kalanchoe has grey-green paddles that flush with red in full sun. The foliage is a unique shape compared to other succulents and thus makes a great addition to mixed succulent containers. It produces pale yellow tubular flowers. Flapjacks, Paddle Plant 9-11 H 8-12" W 8-12" Spring
Melianthus major Perennials p. 4 Peanut Butter Plant Melianthaceae (The Honeybush Family) 8 This intriguing plant has beautiful rippled and dissected pinnate, powdery blue foliage on stems between three and six feet. It is shy to flower in our climate though I have seen the intriguing red spikes on a few occasions in Vancouver and Victoria. The most interesting aspect of this plant is the fragrance of the foliage which is very close to that of peanut butter. Plant with chocolate cosmos, Cosmos atrosanguineus, to turn your border into a peanut butter cup! Red H 4-6' W 2-3' Summer Sarracenia 'Carolina Jacket' Sarraceniaceae (The Pitcher Plant Family) 'Carolina Jacket' is a hybrid pitcher plant involving three different species of Sarracenia (S. purpurea, S. rosea, and S. flava) but in the end resembles a golden pitchered version of S. purpurea only with a huge number of pitchers per plant. It is also extremely hardy. 4-9 Pitcher Plant Red Sarracenia flava H 4-8" W 4-8" Spring Sarraceniaceae (The Pitcher Plant Family) Sarracenia flava is native to the southeastern US. It is one of the most dramatic of pitcher plants with tall, lime green pitchers often to two feet tall. Some plants will have red venation. The flowers are golden yellow and resemble flying saucers. They appear in spring before the new pitchers. By the end of each season the tall pitchers will be filled to the brim with dead flies and other insects. Yum! Yum! 6-8 Pitcher Plant H 12-24" W 4-8" Spring
Sarracenia purpurea Sarraceniaceae (The Pitcher Plant Family) The northern pitcher plant is widespread across Canada in the bogs and wet places of the boreal forest region from northern BC all the way to Newfoundland where it is the floral emblem of that Atlantic province. It is a carnivorous plant forming low, fat pitchers often with red veining and red flushing. Flowers resembling flying saucers occur in spring before the new pitchers emerge. Perennials p. 5 Northern Pitcher Plant 4-8 Red H 4-8" W 4-8" Spring Solanum 'Ketchup 'n' Fries' Solanaceae (The Deadly Nightshade Family) The revolutionary new "TomTato" 'Ketchup 'n' Fries' is a hand-grafted plant that brings together tomatoes and potatoes, two close relatives, that together give us one of life's great pleasures: 'Ketchup 'n' Fries'. It produces the hundreds of the sweetest cherry tomatoes you've ever tasted. (Really! They are amazing.) Then, below ground, it produces a few pounds of yummy, buttery potatoes. Starting in 2016, an improved grafting method should ensure much larger crops of potatoes than in 2015. 10-12 "TomTato" H 2-4' W 2-3' Late Summer