Cute little perennial Snapdragon species native to the mountains adjacent to the Mediterranean. Gray-green, almost succulent foliage is lush and is great with the profuse white snapdragon flowers which appear from late spring to mid summer. Full sun and rich to average, well-drained soil. Light summer water. Gets by with none but doesn’t look as good. Dies completely to the ground in winter and quickly resprouts from the base in spring. Rock gardens, gravel gardens, borders, hellstrips. Seeds around, and finds places that it likes. That could be the cracks in a wall or even pavement.
Family: Plantaginaceae
Asarina procumbens
Soft looking creeping perennial for rich, well drained soils in light shade. Large furry leaves consort beautifully with the pale yellow snapdragon shaped flowers on this 6″ x 1′ wide herbaceous perennial. Excellent in rock gardens, containers with protection from the hottest sun. LOVES cultivation in rich, well drained soils. Admirably long lived container perennial that is also very long blooming June to frost. Regular summer water. Completely winter deciduous.
Asarina scandens ‘Sky Blue’
A really interesting and wonderful vine that we grow as an annual but its a perennial in warmer climates and can be here too if you treat it right. Arrow shaped leaves have modified petioles that attach and hoists this climber to 8′ in a single season. A continuous supply of tubular (snapdragon shaped) purple blue flowers with a white throat. Loved by hummers this native of the driest parts of the mediterranean is adapted to being dry in the winter and wet in summer. If wet and saturated the whole vine is only hardy to about 26ºF. However, if the plant is kept dry in the winter it is hardy to MUCH colder. In a former garden I had it planted against the south facing side of my house under the eaves. It was bone dry in winter and to my shock it lived for 7 years with temperatures down to 10ºF. I offer this information as interesting but its a primo delicate vine with beautiful flowers that appear continuously all season which makes a lovely seasonal bower. Great on a tripod, or teutier in containers. Full sun to very light shade in rich, well drained soil. Excellent on spring blooming shrubs that are quiet in summer- its a fine textured plant that will never smother the host. Excellent plant.
Collinsia grandiflora
Native annuals often get over looked in our gardens. They occupied vast stretches of the Willamette Valley and civilization has caused those displays to suffer. In our gardens they are precious reminders that we should include every category of native plant. Giant Blue Eyed Mary is one of our most delicate looking and stunning in floral detail, It makes a hazy cloud of beautiful blue and white small snapdragon flowers from late April to Mid June. A true annual that dies once the floral display is done. But leave the skeletons of the plant for several weeks longer to form and shed seeds for next years display. This 20″ tall grassy plant occupies open sunny sites as well as the margins of forests. In our gardens it appreciates open slightly disturbed soil. Seedlings germinate in autumn and over winter as small plants. They will heavily occupy an area about the size of a 9″ pie. Excellent plant to succeed mid and late spring bulbs. Water lightly after planting and to establish then none required. Native to the Portland city limits as well. Fantastic displays of this plant can be seen at Camassia in West Linn all through late spring. This is a very reliable re-seeder if you give it some open ground and check for slugs. Seedlings germinate quickly following the first rains and are incredibly cold hardy and drought tolerant. Don’t worry, they are from here, they know what to do. Attracts a wide variety of native pollinators including a wealth of smaller hover flies. Oregon native plant.
Diascia ‘Blue Bonnet’
We’ve found this remarkable perennial to be perfectly hardy in our climate and it offers several outstanding features. Columns of overlapping cupped pink flowers are profuse and as they age they take on ghostly blue tints. The effect is greater in hot weather and gives this spreading perennial bicolor pink/pale blue flowers for months. To 18″ tall and steadily spreading to more than one foot wide in time. Rich, well drained soil with regular summer water is ideal, but we’ve noted its stellar performance in un-amended clay as well. Blooms continuously for months beginning in May and if the flowers become tired it may be sheared, watered well, and perhaps given a little all purpose fertilizer to start the show again. Winter deciduous. Excels in containers. Excellent on slopes, the front of borders, rock gardens, hell strips. Ethereal flowers combine deliciously with variegated moor grass (Molinia caerulea ‘Variegata’) and deep purple Penstemon ‘Enor’ for similar cultural requirements and a season long display.
Digitalis ferruginea ‘Gigantea’
5′ spires of condensed tubular rusty orange/brown flowers densely line the stems of this perennial foxglove in late spring into summer. From a basal rosette of corrugated mid green foliage they rise and delight pollinators and floral arrangers alike. Really cool mixed with wispy ornamental grasses. Full sun and average to rich soil with light, regular summer water. Long lived for a foxglove. I once had one persist in my garden for 15 years! Very dry adapted when established. Basal clumps increase annually and therefore so do the numbers of spikes. Supremely deer resistant as all Digitalis (we’ve expanded our offering of this genus for that very reason). Semi-evergreen. May reseed in open disturbed soils. Seedlings are easy to dispatch, move, or share with friends. AKA Rusty foxglove.
Digitalis lanata
Wooly foxglove is a vigorous and indispensable perennial for areas ravaged by deer. Native to the mountains of Greece it sends up remarkable 3′ spires with fascinating intricate flowers. Each spikes is tightly packed with small tubular flowers that have a brown/amber netting pattern on the outside. In the front of the flower a prominent white lip protrudes. The symmetrical effect of all these flowers is grand and individually reminiscent of an orchid. Part shade to full sun in rich, well drained soil with light but consistent summer water. Forms spreading rosettes to 2′ across in a short amount of time. Semi-evergreen in winter. Supremely tolerant of deer browse- they rarely even mess with this stately easy to grow perennial. Average lifespan 5+ years. The mid green handsome leaves are finely coated in white fur.
Digitalis obscura
One of our fave foxgloves, this (sub)shrubby species forms large spreading plants with multiple spikes of the most amazing flowers. 2′ spikes support tubular orange flowers with an interior of russet brown and more intricate markings. An excellent candidate for hot sunny slopes as it is native to the Iberian peninsula. Full sun, well drained soil and light summer moisture. Reseeds happily in open disturbed sites and those seedlings can be dispatched, moved, or shared with friends. Spectacular flowers appear in spring and continue into summer. High deer resistance. Average lifespan of an individual plant is 3-5 years. Dry borders, gravel gardens, exposed areas with voracious deer. Wonderful plant.
Digitalis parviflora
The so called Chocolate Foxglove gets its moniker from the soft brown tubular flowers that densely line the stalks. They tower up to 4′-5′ when happy. A perennial foxglove with amazing architectural bloom spires. That remain effective for weeks. Full sun and rich, well drained soil. Regular summer water which can often lead to re-bloom. Nice corrugated foliage lined in fine white hairs. Strong deer resistance. The textures and combinations that this offers are mind boggling. Silvery gray foliage is striking with the flower color. Also rabbit resistant. Bloom appear from April to July. Forms increasing colonies with time. A very beautiful and tough perennial. Winter deciduous.
Digitalis x ‘Honey Trumpet’
What great luck. The bees were busy in our nursery years ago and they crossed a shrubby species of Digitalis with a tetraploid herbaceous species. What we got was a fantastic incredibly long blooming and tough perennial with exquisitely honey colored flowers. Remove spent spikes in June and more will likely appear. Sterile and very likely a tetraploid. Each clumping plant creates multiple 3′ spikes of flowers- up to 15 spikes per plant! Blooms April-June and sporadically after that. Forms semi-evergreen clumps in FULL SUN and rich to average well drained soil. Wonderful in combination with Kniphofias and Tulbaghia ‘Edinburgh’. Excellent cut flower- which will spur it bloom further. Completely deer resistant. Light summer water requirements. Somewhat difficult to propagate so quantities are limited. But its worth it.
Xera Plants Introduction.
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