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Little Leaf Sage

Little leaf sage has little flowers.

Its common name is both simple and descriptive. Little leaf sage is a literal translation of its botanical name, Salvia microphylla. However, several of its most popular cultivars are actually hybrids with other species. Also, they are more popularly but inaccurately known as Salvia greggii. Most lack their species name between their genus and cultivar names.

Little leaf sage is a small and generally evergreen shrubby perennial. Mature specimens are about three or perhaps four feet tall. They are a bit wider, and some can slowly widen by dispersing little rhizomes. Their little leaves are less than an inch long and delightfully aromatic when disturbed. Where winters are cooler, frost might initiate partial defoliation.

Bloom is most abundant for late spring or early summer, and again for autumn. Sporadic bloom can continue throughout most of the year. A few flowers may even bloom through winter. Floral color ranges through red, white and pink, as well as peachy and rosy pink. Coppicing old growth at the end of winter promotes replacement with new basal growth.

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Clematis

Clematis like warm air but cool soil.

Like the big bark of a little terrier, the big and boldly colored flowers of large-flowered hybrid clematis seem to be more than their delicate vines should be able to produce. Almost all of the many modern varieties bloom with flowers that are at least three inches wide; and some have slightly ruffled double flowers. Their rich, deep, and sometimes two toned shades of red, blue, purple or pink, as well as white seem too opulent for their simple wiry stems that may climb to only six feet or so. The dark green compound leaves grab harmlessly onto light trellises, stakes or lattice.
Although the foliage and flowers want sunny exposure, clematis roots do not like warm soil, so appreciate generous mulching.  Some people like to give them a wide rock to disperse their roots under, or plant them next to large pots that sit directly on the soil. I planted mine on the north side of the northwestern corner of the house where the soil was always shaded, and allowed it to climb around the corner onto an iron banister on the west side.

Clematis want to be watered and fertilized regularly, and well drained organically rich soil. They should be pruned rather aggressively in winter while they seem to be dead, but are really just dormant.

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Nasturtium

Feral nasturtium is yellow or orange.

Most consider nasturtium, Tropaeolum majus, to be a warm season annual. Some might consider it to be a cool season annual. A few press its tender stems into moist soil to root and continue growth as a perennial. Plants that bloom for summer can disperse seed for winter bloom. Plants that bloom for winter can likewise disperse seed for summer bloom.

Because they replace themselves so readily, they may seem to be perennial. In actuality, plants from one season, whether warm or cool, may not last long in the next. Seed might be sneaky about spreading. Trailing nasturtiums might naturalize in riparian ecosystems. Nasturtium seedlings are available in cell packs, but do not grow as vigorously as seed.

Nasturtium bloom is diverse shades and tints of yellow, orange and red. Varieties bloom with particular colors within that range, although few are true to type. Their feral progeny bloom only bright orange and bright yellow. Their tender growth does not get much more than one or two feet deep. Trailing varieties can climb as high as first floor eaves though. Nasturtium leaves are almost circular like those of water lilies.

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White Sage

White sage is so aromatic that it may be be objectionable to some.

‘White’ is not often associated with ‘sage’, since so many sages are known for the rich shades of purple, blue and red of their flowers. Others have lavender, pale blue, pink, yellow or ‘almost’ orange flowers. Compared to these, the whorls of small, slightly blushed white flowers of white sage, Salvia apiana, are relatively unremarkable, even though they are held as high as a foot and a half above the shrubby foliage on elegantly slender flower spikes.

However, the evergreen silvery foliage of white sage is quite remarkable both visually and aromatically. It is so aromatic that some people may actually find it to be objectionable. Those who initially grow white sage as an herb or for use as incense later realize that it also becomes a prominent ornamental, particularly with dark green foliage, like junipers or arborvitaes, to contrast with its strikingly silvery color. Mature plants get taller and wider than three feet, with simple three inch long leaves. After spring bloom, flower spikes can be shorn off to promote fuller foliar density. I prefer to prune stems back more aggressively to promote more aromatic vigorous vegetative (non-blooming) growth. These vegetative stems become less aromatic as they too eventually bloom.  

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Feverfew

Feverfew blooms with many tiny daisies.

Historical herbal applications were the origin of its now silly name. Feverfew, Tanacetum parthenium, is a relative of chamomile. Its leaves are useful for herbal tea like floral buds of chamomile. Feverfew is delightfully aromatic, although some may disagree about how delightful it is. Some believe that it can repel unwanted insects, but may also repel bees.

Feverfew is likely more popular for its floral display than its aromatic foliage. Its abundant small composite blooms are very similar to those of chamomile. They are nearly as wide as three quarters of an inch. Their yellow centers are a bit flatter. Their ray florets (petals) are a bit wider. They bloom on open trusses that hover loosely above their basal foliage.

Feverfew has lime green foliage with a fine texture. It can stand almost two feet high with bloom standing a bit higher. It migrates slowly, but can slowly get where it should not be. Pruning scraps can root as cuttings. Feverfew prefers rich soil but does not need it. Good sun exposure and even watering are more important. ‘Aureum’ is bright greenish yellow.

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Crassula tetragona

Crassula tetragona is more similar to related jade plant than it appears.

Although the narrow and pointed inch long leaves of Crassula tetragona (which lacks a common name) are not at all similar to the plump rounded leaves of the closely related but much more common jade plant, it is much more similar to jade plant than it appears to be. Both enjoy sunlight but will take a bit of shade. Both can be damaged by extreme exposure (reflected glare and heat), as well as the opposite extreme, frost. Their succulent stems are so easy to root as cuttings, that rather substantial pieces that may need to be pruned off can be stuck into the soil as instant new plants. Even leaves of these and various other specie of Crassula can be rooted as very small cuttings. Besides its distinctive foliage, Crassula tetragona differs from jade plant only because it is limited to about a foot and a half high and wide, and blooms with unremarkable white flowers instead of more prominent flower trusses.

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Honey Locust

Honey locusts produces delightfully dappled shade.

Within its native range, wild thorny honey locust, Gleditsia triacanthos, is a nasty tree! Its wicked thorns are typically as long as four inches but can be twice as long. Some branch into many thorns or thick clusters of thorns. Thickets of many trees can be impenetrable. Female trees produce a messy abundance of brown pods that are about half a foot long.

Fortunately, its cultivars are much more docile. Most are exclusively male, so produce no pods. Old fashioned cultivars that might produce pods as they mature are now rare. More importantly, cultivars are thornless. That is why their common name is now honey locust rather than thorny honey locust. They are as remarkably resilient as the simpler species.

Most cultivars of honey locust grow no taller or wider than fifty feet here. Some grow only half as tall. Some of the more popular cultivars are brightly yellowish green for spring. At least one is ruddy bronze for spring. The finely textured foliage provides dappled shade. Leaves are pinnately and bipinnately compound, and turn yellow for autumn defoliation. Individual leaflets are less than an inch long, so can be difficult to rake.

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Hall’s Honeysuckle

Hall’s honeysuckle climbs aggressively by twining.

The unrefined twining vines of good old fashioned Hall’s (Japanese) honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica ‘Halliana’, seem to fit in so naturally with lilacs, hydrangeas and bearded iris; the sort of plants that grow in grandma’s garden. Grandma may need help controlling it though, since it can climb more than twenty five feet, and get overgrown and invasive. It is best pruned back to main canes or to the ground annually at the end of winter. Even though it is evergreen, it drops some of its foliage and looks rather tired by the end of winter anyway.

Just as the fragrance of the earlier spring blooming flowers gets depleted, Hall’s honeysuckle begins to bloom with its own distinct sweet fragrance, attracting bees and hummingbirds. Bloom is typically most abundant in spring, and followed by sporadic bloom until autumn. Fluctuations of weather or watering can cause subsequent phases of abundant bloom during summer. The pale white tubular (and bisymmetrical) flowers fade to pale yellow that is perhaps the color of French vanilla ice cream. The simple light green leaves are about two inches long. A few leaves on the most vigorous vines may be lobed.

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Carob

Carob eventually develops gnarly branch structure.

John the Baptist survived in the Wilderness of Judah by eating locusts and honey. These locusts could have been large orthopteran insects, such as grasshoppers. However, they were more likely fruits of locust trees, such as carob, Ceratonia siliqua. Both possibilities are both nutritious and kosher. The insects got their name from resemblance to the fruit.

That was almost two millennia ago, and more than seven thousand miles away. Carob is much more popular than grasshoppers here and now. Unfortunately though, within home gardens, the fruit is more of a mess than an asset. Male trees are not messy like females, but produce objectionable floral fragrance. Monoecious trees are both messy and stinky.

Mature trees develop broad canopies that are generally less than thirty feet high. Trunks and main limbs eventually become sculpturally gnarly. Densely evergreen foliage is very shady. Pinnately compound leaves are olive drab, glossy and four to seven inches long. Female orchard cultivars should be fruitless without a pollinator, but are rarely available. Besides, it is impossible to know if a male tree is within pollination range.

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Spanish Lavender

Spanish lavender blooms with bows on top.

It is neither as variable as the many varieties of English lavender, nor as traditional as French lavender, but Spanish lavender, Lavandula stoechas, has the most unusual flower spikes. These short plump spikes are less than two inches long, but are topped with one or two pairs of distended terminal bracts that are almost as long; like simple little packages with big ornate bows. The flower spikes get their color from densely set bracts that surround the minute flowers, and can be various shades of purple or purplish pink or even grayish white. The large terminal bracts are lighter shades of the same colors.

Bloom begins during warm spring weather and continues into summer. Flower may stay close to foliage on stems less than two inches long, or may stand more than six inches above the foliage. The aromatic grayish leaves are narrow and about an inch long.

Mature plants may be three feet wide, and nearly as tall. Aggressive shearing after bloom promotes secondary bloom later, and keeps plants compact. Without pruning, old plants eventually die out in the center.

All lavenders want good drainage and good exposure, but do not want mulch or fertilizer. Inadequate drainage, crowding or mulch can promote rot. Fertilizer can inhibit bloom. Once established, lavenders do not need much water.