Galium odoratum

Galium odoratum
“Sweet Wdooruff”
RUBIACEAE

Herbaceous Perennial Ground cover

Zone: 4 – 8
Native habitat : Europe, N.Africa

Conditions
Soil: average to any
Moisture: well-drained, even moisture
Light: full sun to full shade
Exposure: general
Plant size (h x w): 6″ – 12″ to spread indefinately
Other: to keep it in check (non invasive) only grow in dry shade


Aesthetic
Shape/stem: spreading, wide mat of erect stems
Leaf: bearing whorls of bright green, lance-shaped / spoon-shaped leaves, hay-scented
Flower:terminal clusters of small white-shaped, scented
Bloom: late spring to mid-summer
Other: rhizomatous; looks messy in fall when dying back

Treatment (how to…)
Plant: never plant in an interface area or mixed boarder
Maintain: no to low maintenance; to remove from an area dig out the shallow rhizomes and was all of the other plant roots in surrounding area
Propagate:  divide (into small pieces & even as soon as after 2nd year)

 Uses
Landscape: ground cover, container, shade garden, dry shade area, cottage
Companion planting: nice under a shrub or tree; given ideal conditions it will run through other more sensitive plants
Medicinal: none known
Other:

Vulnerabilities
Pests and disease: none significantDeer resistant: likely
Other animals:

Interest
Local info,: not native through there are other native species in the same genus
Pot size (to purchase): 4″
Nature: spreading ground cover; invasive
Identification (key features):  leaves simple, spoon-shaped, 2–5 cm, borne in whorls of 6–9; flowers small (4–7 mm), cymes, white with four petals joined together at the base
Interesting facts:
Cultivars/Species: 
Comments: highly invasive if given good conditions

Epipactis helleborine

Epipactis helleborine
“Broad-leaved helleborine”
ORCHIDACEAE

Herbaceous Perennial

Zone: 3 – 9
Native habitat: Europe, worldwide range including North America

Conditions
Soil: any, including heavy clay
Moisture: well-drained, dry shade to wet stream bank; thrives in rich moist conditions
Light:  part to full shade
Exposure: general
Plant size (h x w): 6″ – 12″ x 3″ – 6″
Other: can get a bit weedy especially under tree canopy; conditions determine size

Aesthetic
Shape/stem: small, upright
Leaf: broad, dull green, strongly ribber, flat, 
Flower: inflorescence, terminal, green to purple followed by black, arranged in long drooping racemes with dull green sepals and shorter upper petals, nodding flowers
Bloom: June to September
Other: spreads rhizomes and thickened roots; ellipsoid fruit; can go dormant for long periods then re-appear 

Treatment (how to…)
Plant: plant in a contained location, will spread itself around (weedy)
Maintain: easy care; if getting weedy pull out or cut down (will grow back but takes a bit);
Propagate: seed, rhizome

Uses
Landscape: cottage, open woodland, river side/bank, mixed herb bed, shade bed
Companion planting: nice mixed with other herbaceous perennials under tree canopy
Medicinal: none known
Other:

Vulnerabilities
Pests and disease: none significant
Deer resistant: no
Other animals:

Interest
Local info,: not native, will spread around
Pot size (to purchase):
Nature: invasive
Identification (key features): See key identifiers in picture:
Interesting facts: can be invasive if given ideal conditions and lay dormant for long periods
Cultivars:
Comments: people seem to either love it or hate it so keep this in mind if ever weeding it out of a garden

 

Brunnera macrophylla ‘Variagata’

Brunner macrophylla ‘Variagata’
“Siberian bugloss”
BORAGINACEAE

Herbaceous Perennial

Zone: 3 – 8
Native habitat : Europe

Conditions
Soil: average, will excel if given a bit of extra fertility
Moisture: well-drained, moisture is preferred (especially in full sun); tolerant of drier conditions
Light: full sun to full shade
Exposure: under tree
Plant size (h x w): 16″ – 24″
Other: pretty tolerant and tough, dry shade, compete with tree roots 
Aesthetic
Shape/stem: clump forming, spreading,
Leaf: simple, basal, long stalked, heart shaped, green with variegation white on margin
Flower: long lasting, bright blue, 5 petals, small
Bloom: early spring
Other: rhizomatous

Treatment (how to…)
Plant: 18″ apart
Maintain:  low to no maintenance; when leaves blacken at end of the year cut them dow; as get older and see a ring of growth, divide it up, refurbish soil you are putting it back into
Propagate:  divide (into small pieces & even as soon as after 2nd year)

 Uses
Landscape: mixed boarder, mass planting, filler, groundcover for shady area or under tough tree, container, woodland margin,
Companion planting: early spring bloomers
Medicinal: none known
Other:

Vulnerabilities
Pests and disease: none significant
Deer resistant: yes
Other animals:

Interest
Local info,:
Pot size (to purchase): 4″ / 6″ (will grow quick)
Nature: Excellent foliage plant
Identification (key features): Clump forming, heart shaped leaves with white margins, small bright blue flowers 
Interesting facts:
Cultivars/Species: 
B. m. ‘Jack Frost’ – one of the strongest, most reliable, will set seed (sometimes creates variegation and doesn’t look as nice)
B. m.  ‘Looking Glass’ – not a good one, colour is murky
B. m.  ‘Sea Heart’ – blue and pink flowers
B. m.  ‘Hadspen Cream’ – strong cream edges
Comments:

Choisya ternata ‘Sundance’

Choisya ternata ‘Sundance’
“Sundance Mexican Orange”
RUTACEAE

Evergreen Shrub

Zone: 8 – 10
Native habitat: Mexico

Conditions
Soil: fertile
Moisture: well-drained, drought tolerant
Light: part shade (burns/chlorodic in full sun)
Exposure: shelter from full sun
Plant size (h x w): 3′ – 6′  x 3′ – 6′
Other: handles dry shade and root run of other trees

Aesthetic
Shape/stem: rounded, dense, multistem
Leaf: compound opposite pinnate leaf, trifoliate leaflet, oblong, aromatic, lustrous yellow-green leaves, golden new leaves, surround the outside
Flower: corymbs, white, fragrant, star shaped, 5 petal superior ovary
Bloom: April to June
Other: can get a second flush of flowers near the end of summer

Treatment (how to…)
Plant: general;
Maintain:  low maintenance, can prune to even 3″ in spring (do so for sure after any winter damage); easily takes pruning
Propagate:  cutting, seed

 Uses
Landscape: hedge, where kids play, mixed boarder, container, woodland, shade garden, mixed bed, cottage, year round colour and contrast
Companion planting: some ideas: Fatshedera, Phormium, Bronze Fennel, Festuca galuca, Carex ‘Evergold’, Euonymus ‘Silver Queen’, Heucheras, Bergenias,
Medicinal: none known
Other: early feast for bees

Vulnerabilities
Pests and disease: none significant;
Deer resistant: yes
Other animals:

Interest
Local info,: not native
Pot size (to purchase): 
Nature: tough brightly colored broad-leaf evergreen shrub
Identification (key features): glossy leaves in 3 parts (trifoliate); leaves have a distinct pungent spicy smell when crushed and when held to the light you can see oil glands in the leaves

Interesting facts:
Cultivars/Species:
C. ternata – 6′ -8′ (but rare) x 6′ with narrower glossy green leaves and 2 seasons of flowers
C. ‘Aztac Pearl’ – zone 9-10 with narrower leaflets and flowering
Comments:can take dry shade and tree roots

 

Iris Pacific Coast Hybrids

Iris Pacific Coast Hybrids
IRIDACEAE

Evergreen Perennial

Zone: 7 – 9
Native habitat (range): 3 of hybrids from W. America; 9 different irises native to the Pacific Coast

Conditions
Soil: average (great to poor including low nitrogen)
Moisture: well drained, avg moisture, dry summer, moist winter rains
Light: full sun to part shade
Exposure: general
Plant size (h x w): 10″ x 1.5′ (different sizes among cultivars)
Other: dry shade

Aesthetic
Shape/stem: clumping
Leaf: linear, narrow, basal fans
Flower: bearded, 3 falls, 3 standards, white to cream to bright yellow to bronze to pale purple to deep purple
Bloom: spring
Other: rhizomatous

Treatment (how to…)
Plant: general, 3 years to flower from seed, keep in mind/leave proper spacing for clumping nature
Maintain: low maintenance, cut or pull brown leaves, cut down brown flowers ; divide in spring before flower or in fall (October)
Propagate: from seed takes 3 years to flower, rhizome division

 
Uses
Landscape: banks and slopes, boarder, container, cottage, informal, city, bed
Companion planting: go well with a few bunches of it about, nice with tall tree or shrub in the background, eg. cornus spp., be sure to match colour of hyrbid with other plants, other natives (polygonatum spp., ..)
Medicinal: toxic
Other: brings in pollinators

Vulnerabilities
Pests and disease: none significant
Deer resistant: yes
Other animals: rabbit resistant

Interest
Local info,: some of hybrids native; do very well in our weather
Pot size (to purchase):  thimble farms on saltspring may be a good source, buy in bloom to ensure colour
Nature: bearded evergreen iris native to pacific west coast
Identification (key features): 3 falls wavy, 3 standards, bearded 

Interesting facts:
Cultivation: many different hybrids
Comments:

 

Oxalis oregana

Oxalis oregana
“Redwood sorrel”
OXALIDACEAE

Herbaceous Perennial – Invasive ground cover

Zone: 7 -9
Native habitat : Pacific Northwest (Washington to California), coastal woodlands

Conditions
Soil: fertile, humus
Moisture: average to moist
Light: part shade to full shade
Exposure: general
Plant size (h x w): 8″ – 10″ x spreading
Other: grows in dry shade but will be less dense; lusher soil, lusher plant

Aesthetic
Shape/stem: spreading
Leaf: clover like leaf, 3 leaves, compound, trifoliate, heart shaped, purple-ish underside, green top, open and close up at different levels of light
Flower: white to pale pink, 5 petals, on erect stem above leaves, star shaped
Bloom: spring (April to May)
Other: spreads by rhizomes and seeds

 

Treatment (how to…)
Plant: plant and let it do its thing but be sure you can contain it where it is
Maintain:  low maintenance
Propagate: division (spring), root cutting; easy to propagate

Uses
Landscape: woodland garden, ground cover, containor
Companion planting: large trees (douglas fir, redwood), nice in contrast with silver and purple plants (lavender)
Medicinal: edible (but eating too much may be toxic because contain oxalic acid); traditional medicinal use as a drawing poultice
Other: very hard to get rid of, should not plant unless you can contain it

Vulnerabilities
Pests and disease: none significant; rust attacks it (more often in other areas, not Victoria)
Deer resistant: yes
Other animals:

Interest
Local info,: not native to Victoria but has naturalized here in gardens, herbaceous in Victoria
Pot size (to purchase): 
Nature: invasive/spreading hardy woodland perennial
Identification (key features): spreading ground cover, 3 leaves compound, green top, purple bottom, fold with light 
Interesting facts: leaves photosynthesize at low levels of light and will fold down when hit with direct sunlight; Great Plant Pick
Cultivars:
Comments:  evergreen in California

Polygonatum spp. & cvs.

Polygonatum spp. & cvs.
“Solomon seal”
LILIACEAE

Herbaceous Perennial

Zone: 3 – 8
Native habitat : Northern hemisphere

Conditions
Soil: tolerates a wide range of conditions
Moisture: even moisture, drought tolerant once established
Light: full sun to full shade (prefers full shade, will need lots of water in full sun and may still look poor)
Exposure: general
Plant size (h x w): 12″ – 36″ x 12″ – 18″
Other:

Aesthetic
Shape/stem: slender arching stem
Leaf: simple, alternating, off single arching stem, green, turn better yellow in the fall
Flower: dangling tubular white flowers, followed by small black seeds
Bloom: April
Other: appears out of nowhere as a beautiful rising arch

 

Treatment (how to…)
Plant: same as normal, water for first while
Maintain:  no maintenance; let it die down or cut stalks down (never tug out stalk)
Propagate:  division (rhizomes into pieces in fall); seeds slow to develop (most often get transplant or division)

 

Uses
Landscape: woodland garden, layered in a bed with other early bloomers
Companion planting: trillium, helleborous, ferns, layered in with early blooming bulbs, under shrubs, dicentra, cranesbill, heuchera, tiarella, geranium, brunnera
Medicinal: some traditional medicinal uses in western herbalism, Chinese medicine, and Ayurveda
Other:

Vulnerabilities
Pests and disease: none significant; snails and slugs may eat as it emerges
Deer resistant: yes, generally
Other animals:

Interest
Local info,: native
Pot size (to purchase): 
Nature: unique interest in how it emerges
Identification (key features): arching stem with raised leaves oval, opposite, with nodding flowers bellow

*Species are hard to tell apart (minute difference between them, eg. flower size, black spot on flowers, variegation, stem color)*
Interesting facts: name comes from greek word for many knees in reference to many rhizomes
Cultivars/Species: 
P. odoratum ‘Variegatum’ 18″ – 24″ h; 2013 perennial of the year by the Perennial Plant Association but in truth is not one you want as it is slow to establish, relatively weak, and needs the perfect conditions to grow well
Comments: 

Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’

Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’
“Black mondo grass” “Black lilyturf”
ASPARAGACEAE

Evergreen Perennial

Zone: 6 – 9
Native habitat : Japan

Conditions
Soil: high level of humus, best with petty, leafy soil
Moisture: well-drained, even moisture best, tolerates less water to drought but will be smaller
Light: full sun to part shade
Exposure: general
Plant size (h x w): 6″ – 10″ x 6″ – 10″
Other: will tolerate dry shade and tree roots but will depict size

Aesthetic
Shape/stem: clumping
Leaf: deep dark black, simple, basal, parallel veined, linear, sheathing  9″ x 1/4″
Flower: raceme, on leafless stem, small, purple-ish
Bloom: summer
Other: spreads by stolons, very slow to grow so wont spread or multiply too quickly; black berry

Treatment (how to…)
Plant: easy to transplant, slow to grow so don’t need to leave too much space for it to fill into
Maintain:  no maintenance
Propagate: seed, division

Uses
Landscape: ACCENT (in container, in bed, in boarder), ground cover, perennial boarder, slopes, edging, rock, under-planting,
Companion planting:  nice with white flowers, chartreuse colour, Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’, Lamium maculatum, interplanted with small wandering perennials, eg, Geranium farreri, lacy foliage and fragile pink flowers 
Medicinal: none known
Other: easy to dig up and transplant

Vulnerabilities
Pests and disease: none significant; slugs may eat, if too damp root rot
Deer resistant: yes
Other animals:

Interest
Local info,: not native
Pot size (to purchase):  expensive
Nature: great accent ordamental black grass
Identification (key features): color, linear leaves
Interesting facts: AGM
Cultivars: is a cultivar of less black grass
Comments: 

Vinca minor

Vinca minor
“Lesser periwinkle” “Vinca” “Creeping Myrtle”
APOCYNACEAE

Evergreen Perennial – Sub-shrub

Zone: 4 – 9
Native habitat : Central to Southern Europe

Conditions
Soil: average
Moisture: well-drained, average
Light: full sun to part-shade
Exposure: general
Plant size (h x w): 6″ – 12″ x 3′ – 4′ (or more; it roots and spreads for as long and far as it can)
Other: handles dry shade; will survive summer drought and heavy winter rains; best with average moisture and humus; best flowers in full sun; best leaves in part-shade

Aesthetic
Shape/stem: mounding and trailing (wants to create large colonies of itself); woody base of stem, top soft stem
Leaf: opposite, 1″-2″, broad, glossy, leathery look, dark green, entire margin
Flower: solitary, in leaf axis, 5 lobed collora, 1″, periwinkle blue,
Bloom: spring
Other: roots at stem nodes as it goes; can grow up a tree; s

Treatment (how to…)
Plant: spreads itself by rooting at nodes, don’t plant it unless you can contain it, it can be invasive; plant 4 – 10 plants per square yard (if want to fill in quick)
Maintain:  low maintenance, sheer low, every second year, late winter (or will get too old looking)
Propagate: layering / division (early spring or fall), semi-hardwood cutting

Uses
Landscape: evergreen ground cover, under a tree, around a pathway, steep slope, where other ground covers may not work
Companion planting: it will likely take over anything small it grows near so think big 
Medicinal: none known
Other: dry shade; spreads so beware

Vulnerabilities
Pests and disease: none significant
Deer resistant: yes
Other animals:

Interest
Local info,: not native, but will spread out here (or around your garden) if given the chance (invasive)
Pot size (to purchase): 
Nature: tough, sprawling, adventitious (invasive) evergreen groundcover / subshrub
Identification (key features): evergreen small leathery glossy leaves, mounding/sprawling invasive nature, periwinkle colour of 5 lobed fused flowers solitary in leaf axis 
Interesting facts: is said to smoother out weeds; once it is established can be difficult to get rid of; color periwinkle is derived from this flower
Cultivars: V. minor ‘Atropurpurea’ (purple flower), V. m. ‘La Grave’ (violet flower), V. m. ‘Argenteovarigata’ (leaves creamy white margin), A. m. ‘Azurea Floreo Pleno’ (double flower) all have one RHS’s AGM
Comments: V. major, bigger in flower (2″) and leaf (18″) and is zone 7-11 and can be found more commonly in commercial planting

 

Trachystemon orientalis

Trachystemon orientalis
“Abraham-Isaac-Jacob”
BORAGINACEAE

Herbaceous Perennial

Zone: 5 – 7
Native habitat : Eastern Europe, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia; naturalized in England; Western Asia

Conditions
Soil: average
Moisture: well-drained, moist to dry (likes average moisture)
Light: full sun to full shade
Exposure: general
Plant size (h x w): 18″
Other: will tolerate dry shade but leaves will be smaller; tolerates most any soil

Aesthetic
Shape/stem: hairy stem
Leaf: hear shaped, rough texture, large, soft, overlapping, medium green, dense mat when flowers are finished
Flower: lax panicles, tubular collar, blueish to purple, white throat, stamen and pistols stick out, 5 petals reflex,
Bloom: spring
Other: flowers before leaves/as leaves are just beginning to develop; rhizomes (spreads); dies down and disappears in winter

Treatment (how to…)
Plant: naturalizes by spreading rhizome
Maintain:  low maintenance, cut out dead or poor looking leaves in fall  or when dies down if you like
Propagate: root cutting, root division;

Uses
Landscape: very useful ground cover, woodland garden,
Companion planting: winter blooming plants and evergreens behind to cover where it dies down in winter, beneath old large oaks or sequoias 
Medicinal: none known; edible
Other: dry shade; spreads so be ware

Vulnerabilities
Pests and disease: none significant
Deer resistant: yes
Other animals: bees like it

Interest
Local info,: not native, but will spread out here (or around your garden) if given the chance
Pot size (to purchase): 
Nature: tough, rhizomatus, perennial ground cover
Identification (key features): borage family, reflex petals and erect pistols; (this species) pistols, clusters of flowers, hairy upper stems, rough textured but soft big leaves
Interesting facts: Trachy means rough, Stemon means steman in greek, referring to hairy filaments of this plant
Comments: