Ranunculus ficaria ‘Brazen Hussy’

Ranunculus ficaria ‘Brazen Hussy’
“Lesser celandine”
RANUNCULACEAE

Herbaceous Perennial

Zone: 4 – 9
Native habitat : United Kingdom; Europe and Asia

Conditions
Soil: any, rich
Moisture: does not like wet soil, even moisture
Light: full sun to part shade
Exposure: general
Plant size (h x w): 2″ – 6″ x 12″ – 18″
Other:

Aesthetic
Shape/stem: spreading ground cover by tubers, colonizes
Leaf: simple, basal, flexible, orbicular/circular/heartshaped, purple black
Flower: solidary, yellow, glossy, 8-12 starry petals, 1″
Bloom: spring
Other: ephemeral – early dormancy; less invasive than straight species
<<This is a photo of the straight species, they look very similar (refer to the photo bellow to see a photo that illustrates the difference of the leaves)

Treatment (how to…)
Plant: spreads by tubers, plant in groups, plant where it can disappear without leaving a gap and where you are not cultivating; do not plant near native garden (esp. with native ephemeral) or in interface areas to your garden
Maintain: low, maintenance, disappears after flowering, *cut out reversions*
Propagate: division

Uses
Landscape: ground cover, container, rock garden, boarder edge
Companion planting: nice with a evergreen shrub, spring colour contrast against greens 
Medicinal: straight species has some traditional medical uses and young leaves are edible
Other:,

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

Interest
Local info,: straight species in invasive in Victoria; so be sure it does not revert
Pot size (to purchase): 6″
Nature: spreading ground cover; great spring colour
Identification (key features): deep black heart shaped leaves, low height, bright yellow starry flower
Interesting facts:
Cultivars: it is an unstable cultivar of the straight species which has become very invasive in north america and is negatively impacting our local ephemeral native
Comments: 

Aubrieta deltoidea

Aubrieta deltoidea
“Rock cress”
BRASSICACEAE

Herbaceous Perennial

Zone: 4 – 9
Native habitat : Southeast Europe

Conditions
Soil: any (even only a little bit)
Moisture: must have good drainage
Light: full sun to part shade
Exposure: general
Plant size (h x w): 6″ – 8″ x 2′
Other: can survive among rock crevices with extremely little soil

Aesthetic
Shape/stem: mat/carpet forming,
Leaf: simple, alternate, spoon-shaped/oblong, grey-green,
Flower: inflorescence, 4 petals, lilac to red to pink,
Bloom: early spring, March to April
Other: quickly looks messy/ratty after blooming

Treatment (how to…)
Plant: sow from seed (indoors 6 weeks before last frost and surface of soil), plant 6″ apart, water for first growing season
Maintain: low, maintenance, sheer almost flat after it flowers and begins to look messy; can sheer twice (again in fall) if you want a tight look
Propagate: seed, softwood cutting

Uses
Landscape: ground cover, container, rock garden, wall; needs to tumble over something; sunny slope,
Companion planting: as they don’t look the best in summer, well matched with something to follow after: Dianthus alpinus, Geranium cinereum ‘Ballerina’, or ‘Lawrence Flatman’, Helianthemum nummularium; Narcissus, Allium, Allysium montanum ‘Mountain Gold’,
Medicinal: none known
Other:

Vulnerabilities
Pest and Disease: none known
Deer resistant: deer resistant (for the most part they don’t seem to eat it)
Other animals:

Interest
Local info,: not native, but very common around Victoria
Pot size (to purchase): buy in flower
Nature:  hardy, carpet forming herbaceous perennial; great spring colour; survives in rock with little soil; prefers to tumble over something
Identification (key features):
Interesting facts: double flowers have been recorded in the wild; Name from Claude Aubriet, French botanical artist, 5 other species named after him, all found on limestone
Cultivars: all are less aggressive than straight species: A. d. ‘Argenteovariegata’ – strong variegation of creamy white and green with rich purple flowers, may revert (remove reversion when seen)
Comments:  buy in flower as the straight species produces a vast number of colours; can be invasive in a space though not on the invasive species list

x Fatshedera lizei ‘Annemieke’

x Fatshedera lizei ‘Annemieke’
syn. ‘Lemon and Lime’
“Variegated aralia ivy”
ARALIACEAE

Evergreen Shrub

Zone: 8 – 10
Native habitat : original cross occurred in France

Conditions
Soil: fertile, acidic
Moisture: well drained, avg moisture
Light: full sun to full shade
Exposure: handles seaside; leaves damaged at 9′ c so protect
Plant size (h x w): 4′ – 6′ x 3′ – 10′
Other: 

Aesthetic
Shape/stem: sprawling, thin pliable
Leaf: leathery, palmate, large, green with central splash of yellow
Flower: terminal panicle, small clusters, white
Bloom: fall
Other: seed is sterile


Treatment (how to…)
Plant:  can not be grown from seed; give space for it to sprawl over/out when planting
Maintain: low maintenance, easy care
Propagate: roots at node; softwood cutting

Uses
Landscape: ground cover, trellis (tie in), trellis up a wall, let ramble down a slope, informal garden, shaded beds, specimen plant
Companion planting: nice in contrast with other shade loving plants of the color silver, gold or blue
Medicinal: non known; poisonous if ingested
Other:

Vulnerabilities
Pests and disease: none significant
Deer resistant: should be
Other animals:

Interest
Local info,: not a native
Pot size (to purchase): 
Nature: sprawling shrub or ground cover that looks vine like and is uniquely a bigenetic hybrid
Identification (key features): vine like shrub (way is grows sprawling out and floppy stems), yellow to green splotched center of large leaves
Interesting facts: great plant pick;
Cultivation: bygenetic hybrid: is the unusual cross between two different genera, Fatsia japonica and Hedera helix (this does not normally occur in nature)
Comments: 

 

Hedera helix ‘Gold Heart’

Hedera helix ‘Gold Heart’
“Gold Heart Ivy”
ARALIACEAE

Evergreen Vine

Zone: 5 – 10
Native habitat : Europe, W. Asia

Conditions
Soil: average
Moisture: well-drained, average
Light: full sun to part-shade (best in full sun)
Exposure: general
Plant size (h x w):
Other: will tolerate wide range of well-drained soils and the seaside

Aesthetic
Shape/stem: semi-woody stem, climbing, spreading
Leaf: alternate, 3-lobed, green, gold blotches in center
Flower: small, not showy, yellow green umbel
Bloom:
Other: self-clinging aerial rootlets; grows faster as it ages; will grow up and cover and around anything; fruits, round black


Treatment (how to…)
Plant: plant 18″ apart; don’t plant it unless you can control it, spreads itself by roots and birds spread seeds;
Maintain:  low maintenance, cut out reversions  (loses variegation; may revert, especially as ground cover); don’t throw out in compost; can be pruned to be a shrub
Propagate: layering / division, semi-hardwood cutting

Uses
Landscape: evergreen ground cover, stabilizes slopes, rock garden
Companion planting: will grow over most anything it is planted near
Medicinal: none known
Other: 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 vine
Identification (key features): evergreen ivy like leaf with golden splash in center 
Interesting facts:
Cultivars:
Comments: Hedera helix is the species it comes from, extremely invasive, will smoother trees and undergrowth

 

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: 

Arctostaphylos x media

Arctostaphylos x media
“Manzanita”
ERICACEAE

Evergreen Shrub – Groundcover – Native

Zone: 7 – 9
Native habitat : North America, BC, Oregon, Washington, Califonia

Conditions
Soil: average
Moisture: well drained, average, summer drought tolerant
Light: full sun
Exposure: tolerate seaside
Plant size (h x w): 2′ – 3′ x 2′ – 3′
Other: tough; can take hard conditions (rocks, banks)

Aesthetic
Shape/stem: spreading, low, ground-cover to shrub
Leaf: leathery, blueish green, alternate, obovate
Flower: pink, urn-shaped
Bloom: Spring
Other: look can vary (stronger sense of features between either parent); fruit is drupe in summer, red

Treatment (how to…)
Plant: general, be sure it is in a well-drained area; prefers to grow in the ground (once hardened off) rather than in a container
Maintain:  low maintenance,
Propagate: cuttings (fruit is sterile); use well-drained propagation media
containing sand, perlite, or vermiculite

Uses
Landscape: seaside, native, rock, bank, erosion control
Companion planting: en mass with itself; other natives
Medicinal: may be some traditional use
Other:

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

Interest
Local info,: native, can find in Squamish
Pot size (to purchase):  4″ (don’t do well in pots)
Nature: hardy native ground-cover / low growing shrub
Identification (key features): low form, spreading, obovate, alternating, leathery green leaves; insignificant urn-shaped flowers spring
Interesting facts:
Cultivation: is a natural cross between A. columbiana and A. uva-ursi 
Comments: 

 

Pachysandra terminalis

Pachysandra terminalis
“Japanese spurge” “Pachysandra”
BUXACEAE

Evergreen Perennial / Ground-cover

Zone: 4 – 8
Native habitat : S.E. Asia

Conditions
Soil: humus, acidic
Moisture: mosit
Light: part shade to full shade
Exposure: chlorotic in sun
Plant size (h x w): 6″ (part-shade) – 12″ (full-shade)
Other: can compete with tree roots; slow to establish

Aesthetic
Shape/stem: upright stem, creeping/mat-like
Leaf: alternate, whorled, glossy, green, cluster at tip of upright stem, obovate, leathery, coarsely uniform teeth
Flower:  spike, small, white, tubular, fragrant
Bloom: late spring to summer
Other: will spread

Treatment (how to…)
Plant: 6″-12″ apart, slow to establish and grow, but will out compete most things it is planted with (overwhelms suckers)
Maintain:  prune out only broken or winter killed stems
Propagate: seed, cutting, division

Uses
Landscape: under a tree, ground cover, shade garden or space in garden, woodland margin
Companion planting: en mass with itself (will out compete most things it is planted with); trees
Medicinal: none known
Other:

Vulnerabilities
Pests and disease: none significant; may see mites, scale insect
Deer resistant: yes
Other animals:

Interest
Local info,: not native
Pot size (to purchase):  4″
Nature: tough competitor; evergreen ground-cover
Identification (key features): evergreen, upright groundcover, prostrate stems; leaves obovate, leathery, glossy dark green, alternate, coarsely uniform teeth toward the tips, whoreled; flowers small, white, tubular, spikes

Interesting facts:
Cultivation:
Comments: 

 

Iberis sempervirens

Iberis sempervirens
“Candytuft”
BRASSICACEAE

Evergreen Perennial / Subshrub

Zone: 5-9
Native habitat : Europe (S. Italy)

Conditions
Soil: average
Moisture: well-drained, average water
Light: full sun
Exposure:
Plant size (h x w): 12″ – 18″ x 12″ – 18″
Other: can grow in poor soil, spreads quickly

Aesthetic
Shape/stem: spreading, mounded,
Leaf: simple, spiraled along stem, oblong, entire margin, leathery, dark green,
Flower:  raceme, showy, four petal, perfect,  dense head, 4cm, white
Bloom: April
Other: grows fast; fruit is silicle


Treatment (how to…)
Plant: start indoors 8 weeks before planting outside
Maintain:  low maintenance, sheer off top lightly after flowering (to keep bushy), put down lime in fall (and never at same time as nitrogen)
Propagate: seed, softwood cutting

Uses
Landscape: ground cover, Alpine, Container, Dryland (no watering), filler, mixed bed, perennial border, rock garden, spring interest, cottage, between stones of walkways
Companion planting: nice mixed with bright colors in a boarder with say Euphorbia polychroma, or Aubrieta ‘Whitewell Gem’
Medicinal: none known
Other:

Vulnerabilities
Pests and disease: pretty hardy not too prone to disease (may be prone to certain diseases of its family (fungal spot, mold)); slugs may eat
Deer resistant: yes
Other animals: rabbit resistant

Interest
Local info,: not native
Pot size (to purchase):  4″
Nature: prolific, spreading, abundant in white flowers in spring
Identification (key features): typical Brassicaceae family, 4 flower; low growing; leaves narrow, spiral like, evergreen; flowers bright white, late spring
Interesting facts:
Cultivation:
Comments:  can be invasive

Cyclamen hederifolium

Cyclamen hederifolium
“Ivy-leaved cyclamen”
PRIMULACEAE

Herbaceous tuberous perennial

Zone: 5-9
Native habitat (range): woodlands, S. Europe, France – Turkey

Conditions
Soil: Any
Moisture: avg. moist (winter), drier when dormant (summers)
Light: part shade
Exposure: sheltered
Plant size (h x w): 4″-6″ x 6″-12″
Other:

Aesthetic
Shape/stem: mounded, stems are scapose, arising directly from tuber, erect in flower, coil in fruit to bring ripened fruit toward soil
Leaf: 3-4″, arrow/heart-shaped, ovate -cordate, toothed, grey – green with silver mottling (pale variegation with darker center), glabrous, long petioles arising from tuber, appear after flower, last till spring – early summer
Flower: 1-3 cm, campanulate (bell shaped), deep pink to white, solitary per scape, 5 petals with deeper color at base, fleeting
Bloom: late summer to fall, before leave foliage
Other: dormant in summer

Treatment (how to…)
Plant: shallow, just below surface, 5 cm deep, moderately fertile, humus rich, well-drained soil
Maintain: no maintenance, drought tolerant in summer (don’t water during summer)
Propagate: naturalize by seed, soak seed 10 hours ahead, sow in darkness (cover)

Uses
Landscape: winter ground cover, pots, rock garden
Companion planting: below roses or shrubs, beneath deciduous tree
Medicinal: none reputably known
Other: grown for winter foliage

Vulnerabilities
Pests and disease: no known
Deer resistant: yes
Other animals: rabbit resistant

Interest
Local info,: introduced, reasonably common in Victoria
Pot size (to purchase): 6″
Nature: hardy, vigorous cyclamen
Identification (key features): flowers separate of leaves, leaves arrow shaped; both of which no true of cyclamen coum (which it is often misidentified as; reference cyclamen coum)

Interesting facts: AGM winner, Great Plant Pick
Comments: tough leaves, delicate or fragile flowers (do not plant in high traffic area); shallow roots (tuberous roots sit almost atop soil); vigorous, will overtake cyclamen coum if planted near; some of cyclamen species are invasive (not considered one of these)