Postage : Seeds only $4 / Plants $20
A curious groundcover for moist shade from Italy and Spain, which potted makes an excellent conversation starting centre piece for the dinner table. The purple hooded white spathes, that shelter the spadix and flowers, with their long tail-like appendages appear amongst the glossy, dark green, arrow shaped leaves like a family mice grubbing for food. Slowly spreading by the underground stolons to which it retreats during summer, emerging again in late winter with fresh foliage and a new family of mice.
Tolerates considerable dryness when dormant but demands adequate moisture in winter and spring while actively growing.
Resents disturbance and typically will not flower well until it's settled in for a year or two and then improving with time. In a container re-potting is neither desirable or necessary but annual replacement of the surface soil and the addition of slow release fertiliser will be greatly appreciated.
Rosettes of huge, glossy, dark green, sharply serrated leaves thrust from the soil with the onset of autumn rain. In spring sceptres of mauve and white shell like flowers stand sentry over the brooding mounds of foliage.
Found throughout the Meditteranean it's at its best with no summer water but plenty of winter moisture and is tolerant of any soil that isn't waterlogged.
Extremely architectural if given the space or as contrast to other boldly leaved plants such as Melianthus major.
Representations of the leaves are commonly found in ancient roman architecture and are often still encountered in classical designs of today.
A deceptively delicate looking shrub, happy in any impoverished soil, with or without root competition, preferably quite dry and well drained, in bright or dark shade, though less likely to flower well in the later. Alkaline soil or even pure limestone are to it's liking though it seems quite content in acid soil. Given adequate drainage it will grow rapidly, forming a loose bush of glossy, dark green, pinnate leaves, flowering constantly through the warmer months of the year with racemes of 2.5cm wide, pale pink, trumpet shaped flowers, in all likelihood self seeding into paving cracks and other inconvenient places, from which it's happily transplanted when very young.
Dead head to promote flowering but only prune back old spent stems when new basal growth has matured, or else risk a fine specimens premature demise.
An evergreen, shrubby perennial from Mexico. Many flowered, long, slender, arching wands of small, bright magenta pink, tubular, lipped flowers are held over glossy, green, oval shaped leaves.
Extremely floriferous and with good ornamental foliage, this is magnificent plant for any protected position with some shade, where it will lend a lush tropical look.
It's somewhat lax habit makes it ideal for the foot of larger plants or the top of retaining walls.
A dense, evergreen, shrubby perennial. Dark, glossy green, deeply toothed, spoon shaped leaves encircle the stems to make for a dense, weed suppressing, mound forming ground cover. Throughout the warmer months copious quantities of lavender, pincushion-like, 5cm, flowers are produced. An extemely tough plant tolerant of most conditions.