Bartlettina sordida

Want a gorgeous, tropical looking Winter bloomer for a shady spot in your garden this year? This spectacular native of Mexico looks like a giant Ageratum growing 6’ to 7’ tall & 4’ to 5’ across with very large & luscious, velvety emerald green leaves set off by beautiful, deep violet veining. From Fall thru Spring, it’s topped by large (5” to 6” across), bright lavender, flowering clusters held on velvety purple, sturdy, upright stems. Fast, trouble free & easy to grow in rich soil with average water, give it a top-dressing of compost once a year for maximum lusciousness. Tolerates light frosts.

Bright Shade-A.M. Sun, Avg.-High water, Perennial
USDA Zone 9-10

Passiflora manicata
'Scarlet'

We’ve had this highly showy, evergreen, Passion vine growing on the front fence of our nursery for several years. Everyone has asked for it & now we’ve finally got around to offering it! Fast & vigorous & tolerant of light frosts for sure, it’s much more hardy than the familiar & less showy than P. ‘Coral Seas.’ Blooming all year around with a grand explosion of bloom in late Summer & Fall, the 3” to 4”, vivid scarlet flowers are a perfect contrast against the large, rich, green, almost leathery foliage. Bears large, edible fruit, too. Fast growing to 20’, it certainly makes a great fence cover. Just give it rich soil & stand back! Hardy to 25 degrees F.

Sun, Avg./Low water, Perennial vine
USDA zones 9-10

Impatiens auricoma
'Jungle Gold'

Yum-yum! Luscious, 1”, golden-yellow Impatiens flowers are held plenty to a cluster atop upright stems to 18” tall. A nice, dense, bushy Impatiens with rich, glossy green foliage, it makes an excellent container plant too, so you can admire its fascinating, sexy blooms with red veining in the throat close-up. Give her rich soil & feed or top-dress with compost regularly for an always perfect appearance.

Full shade/Bright Shade, Avg. water/Moist
Perennial inUSDA 10A-11, annual elsewhere