Angelonia angustifolia

(Summer Snapdragon)

Flower: Narrow terminal spikes (to 8” long).

(angustifolia means narrow leaf)

Two-lipped flowers, up to ¾ inch.

Cultivars available in white, blue, light pink and bicolors.

Foliage: Stems clad with narrow, oblong to lanceolate, green leaves (to 3” long) with toothed margins. Foliage is slightly aromatic. Size: typically grow 12 - 18” tall.

Culture: grown as a bedding or container annual. Prefers moist, fertile soils with good drainage. Some drought tolerance. Good tolerance for summer heat and humidity. Uses: Massed in beds and borders. Appropriate for containers.

Bidens ferulifolia

(Beggar Ticks)

Flower: “Daisy-style” composite flowers 1.5" to 3" across. The sterile rays have 3 points on the tips.

Usually yellow; many new colors, oranges, red, pinks, whites and multicolors.

New breeding producing many new varieties.

Foliage: Stems thin, procumbent and slightly pubescent on the nodes; it has opposite bipinnate leaves, .5-to 1-3/4 inches long and .5 to 1 inch wide on an about a half inch long petiole.

Size:10-24 inches, spreading or mounding habit

Culture: Full sun or very light shade, drought tolerant once established. Blooms best when fertilized regularly or use timed release fertilizer. Pinch or prune to contain size, deadheading not needed.

Uses: hanging baskets, window boxes, and container gardens as a spiller plant. beds and borders, mass plantings, front of the border edging plant. Most bidens varieties are highly attractive to butterflies and bees

Calibrachoa

(Million Bells)

Flower: Abundant, trumpet-shaped, flare to round, ~1" across. Comes in many colors, pink, red, purple, blue, red, yellow, white and multicolored.

Flowers look like small petunias (which are related and there are hybrids between the two)

Foliage: opposite, simple, lanceolate, entire margin, pubescent and sticky like petunia.

Size: Trailing habit, 3-9 inches high by up to 2 feet wide.

Culture: Full sun or very light shade, organic rich soil. Drought tolerant but performs best with regular water and fertilizer but allow the soil to dry somewhat between waterings as they can get root-rot if too wet. More heat tolerant than petunias

Uses: Great for containers, hanging baskets, window boxes or massing

Cleome hasslerana

(Spider Flower)

Flower: pink, cherry, rose, lavender or white. Asymmetrical, long, exerted stamens clustered in an indeterminate raceme*. Opens from the bottom upward.

Fruit: long dehiscent capsule on a long peduncle

Foliage: alternate, palmately compound, 5-7 leaflets. Bad odor

Size: grows 4-6 feet tall, spreading 18-24 inches wide on flexible stems’

Culture: prefers full sun, tolerates partial shade, tolerates poor and dry soils. Reseeds!!!

Pests: whitefly and beetles

Uses: background, filler, temporary shrub, screening

(*a simple inflorescence in which the flowers are borne on short stalks of about equal length at equal distances along an elongated axis and open in succession toward the apex)

Ipomoea batatas

(Ornamental Sweet Potato Vine)

Flower: Rarely seen, white and purple. Grown for foliage Foliage: alternate, usually cordate or 3-lobed, many shapes and colors available; bright lime, deep purple, reddish, brownish, variegated.

Bred to be bush-like, don't need to prune.

Size: Trailing or procumbent plant, 3-4 feet in a season Culture: full sun, good drainage.

Pests: Whiteflies, aphids

Uses: Containers, beds, annual groundcover, great trailing over walls

Lantana camara

(Lantana)

Flower: inflorescence. flower clusters. yellow, orange, orange-red, purple, white or bicolor.

Fruit: blue-black, round

Foliage: opposite, ovate, odd smelling when crushed.

Size: grows up to 4 feet, sprawling woody shrub

Culture: full sun, heat-loving, tolerates dry soil

Pests: whitefly and red spider mite

Uses: bedding plant, groundcover, hanging baskets, standard tree form

Pelargonium xhortorum

(Zonal Geranium)

Flower: red, pink, salmon, white or bicolor, 5 petaled double or semi-double.

Foliage: alternate on spurs, scalloped margins, maybe zoned or variegated foliage bruises, heavy odor

Size: 1-2 feet tall, upright brittle stems

Culture: do not overwater, allow to dry out (wet/dry cycle) otherwise root and stem rot will occur. Deadhead and fertilize to promote flowering. Tolerates light frost. Propagated by cuttings

Uses: containers, window boxes, bedding

Petunia xhybrida

(Petunia)

Flower: funnel-shaped, purple, pink, lavender, yellow, striped, fringed ruffled or double

Foliage: alternate, sticky foliage

Size: grows 8-15 inches tall on lax stems, rounded mound or cascading

Culture: prefers full sun, tolerates partial shade, prefers well-watered and fertilized. Pinch back for bushiness. Tendency to be leggy in heat. Deadhead for continuous bloom

Uses: bedding, containers, hanging baskets

Note: Wet, rainy cloudy weather may cause melting of the flowers

Same family as calibrachoa (hybridizers cross these)

Portulaca grandiflora

(Moss Rose)

Flower: pink, red, white, and yellow. Closes in the afternoon or cloudy days. Semi-doubles or doubles may stay open all day - Improved to stay open through afternoon.

Foliage: alternate, succulent

Size: prostrate or trailing, spreads 6-8" tall and 12" wide

Culture: full sun, tolerates hot, dry conditions and lean soil. Not frost tolerant. Self-seeds!

Uses: rock garden, edging, walkways, hanging baskets, groundcover

Salvia splendens

(Scarlet Sage)

Flower: usually bright red, tubular florets on 6" terminal racemes. Cultivars are pink, cream and purple

Foliage: opposite, glossy dark green, cordate, toothed

Size: grows 12-36 inches tall on square stems

Culture: full sun, tolerates partial shade, deadhead to promote continuous flowering, self-seeds occasionally, Dies at first frost.

Uses: bedding, border, cut flower

Setcreasea pallida

(Purple Heart)

Flower: small, violet-purple, consider them a bonus

Foliage: alternate, deep purple, oblong, fleshy, trough-shaped, 7in long

Size: sprawling stems, 18 inches wide by 12 inches tall Culture: prefers full sun to partial shade, well drained soils. Rots in wet soil

Uses: groundcover, carpet bedding, container or hanging baskets Greenhouse plant now a popular bedding plant

Solenostemon xhybridus

(Coleus)

Flower: insignificant, purplish, remove to promote branching (similar to basil plants/flowers)

Foliage: opposite, cultivars vary lobed to linear. Margins vary; deeply lobed, fringed, serrated. Colors range from white, cream, pink, yellow, rose, red, purple, chartreuse, bronze or any combo of the above.

Size: grows up to 4 feet tall, on square stems

Culture: full sun in evenly moist soils. Some cultivars fade in the sun May be brought indoors in the fall and over wintered.

Pests: whitefly or mealy bugs

Uses: bedding, carpet beds, containers.

Tropaeolum majus

(Nasturtium)

Flower: orange color most common, spurred, sometimes scented. Edible, peppery taste. Cultivars, orange, yellow, scarlet

Foliage: alternate, rounded, long petiole, also edible maybe variegated

Size: trailing or bushy. Grows 12-18" tall and 2' wide May climb 6-8 feet if support is available.

Culture: likes cool weather, shade preferred in hottest part of the day Heat stall. Lean soil for best flowering. Do not over fertilize (stunts flowers, encourages foliage).

Uses: border, hanging baskets, attracts hummingbirds, edible flower trap crop for aphids

Verbena xhybrida

(Garden Verbena)

Flower: petals notched with typically white centers, scented. Lavender, blue, purple, red, pink or white

Foliage: opposite, dark green, dentate

Size: 12" tall by 18" wide, sprawling

Culture: prefers full sun, well-drained soil, heat stall

Pests: powdery mildew and rabbits

Uses: beds, edging, containers, hanging baskets

Viola xwittrockiana

(Pansy)

Flower: Face usually 2 colors, purple, blue, lavender, violet, rose yellow, orange, white, bicolor, tricolor

Foliage: alternate, basal leaves cordate

Size: 4-8" tall by 12" wide

Culture: full sun to partial shade, cool weather annual, gets heat stall. Deadhead for more blooms

Uses: borders, edging, containers, cut flower. Usually a spring or fall bedding plant. Sometimes interplanted with bulbs

Angelonia angustifolia

(Summer Snapdragon)

Bidens ferulifolia

(Beggar Ticks)

Calibrachoa

(Million Bells)

Cleome hasslerana

(Spider Flower)

Ipomoea batatas

(Ornamental Sweet Potato Vine)

Lantana camara

(Lantana)

Pelargonium xhortorum

(Zonal Geranium)

Petunia xhybrida

(Petunia)

Portulaca grandiflora

(Moss Rose)

Salvia splendens

(Scarlet Sage)

Setcreasea pallida

(Purple Heart)

Solenostemon xhybridus

(Coleus)

Tropaeolum majus

(Nasturtium)

Verbena xhybrida

(Garden Verbena)

Viola xwittrockiana

(Pansy)