Family | Plantaginaceae

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Gardening | Plant ID

the plantain family

Angelonia                                          

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Angelonia tolerate the summer heat and are planted here with other heat tolerant plants, cora vinca and sweet potato 'Marguerite' (Ipomoea batatas 'Marguerite').

Penstemon                                                            

Gulf Coast Penstemon (Penstemon tenuis)

Beardtongue (Penstemon 'Dark Towers') 

is an unpretentious perennial with crimson foliage. 

The dark folage adds depth and interest to a border garden.

Digitalis                                                    

Digitalis  is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennials, shrubs, and biennials commonly called foxgloves.

Foxglove (Digitalis)

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Grassroots Horticulture

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Family | Oleaceae

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Gardening | Plant ID

the olive family

Notable members of the Oleaceae include olive, ash, jasmine, and several popular ornamental plants including privet, forsythia, fringetrees, and lilac.

Oleaceae, also known as the olive family, is a taxonomic family of flowering shrubs, trees, and a few lianas in the order Lamiales, It presently comprises 28 genera, one of which is recently extinct. The extant genera include Cartrema, which was resurrected in 2012. The number of species in the Oleaceae is variously estimated in a wide range around 700. The flowers are often numerous and highly odoriferous. The family has a subcosmopolitan distribution, ranging from the subarctic to the southernmost parts of Africa, Australia, and South America. Notable members include olive, ash, jasmine, and several popular ornamental plants including privet, forsythia, fringetrees, and lilac.

Lilac                                                                                  

Lilac (Syringa vulgaris) is a species of flowering plant in the olive family Oleaceae, native to the Balkan Peninsula, where it grows on rocky hills. This species is widely cultivated as an ornamental and has been naturalized in other parts of Europe.  It is not regarded as an aggressive species. 

If you love beautiful flowers, especially sweet scented ones, consider attending the Mackinac Island Lilac Festival.

Forsythia                                            

Forsythia is a genus of flowering plants in the olive family Oleaceae. There are about 11 species, mostly native to eastern Asia, but one native to southeastern Europe. 

Desert Willow Tree | Chilopsis Linearis

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Like a true willow (Salix), Desert-willow (Chilopsis linearis) has long narrow leaves and grows  in streambanks, river banks or along watercourses in the desert called wadi, wash or arroyo. The desert-willow has adapted to desert washes, and does best with just enough water to keep it blooming and healthily green through the hot months.  The U.S.D.A. map shows it growing naturally in the mountainous  regions of the southwestern states and Mexico.

 

The blossom is funnel-shaped,  1-2" long, spreading at the opening into five ruffled petal-like scalloped or crenate lobes.. The flowers are irregular in shape with a gradation from light pink to purple with intense purple venation often with white or yellow and purple streaks within the throat. The catalpa-like flowers are born in terminal racemes.
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Chilopsis linearis is considered a very large shrub to small tree, 15-40 ft., slender-twigged, often with leaning, twisting trunk and open, spreading crown found naturally in the streambanks and watercourses.  The leaves are linear, many times longer than wide, with a strong central vein. Leaves are deciduous and willow-like. 

By early autumn, the violet-scented flowers, which appear after summer rains, are replaced by slender seedpods, 6–10 inches long, which remain dangling from the branches and serve to identify the tree after the flowers are gone.  The seeds are usually highly viable with a high percentage germination rate. If you want to start desert willow from seed try planting a few in the fall, saving a few seeds for spring planting, in case a cold snap freezes the tender seedlings.

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