Vinca minor

Vinca minor (common names lesser periwinkle or dwarf periwinkle) is a species of flowering plant native to central and southern Europe, from Portugal and France north to the Netherlands and the Baltic States, east to the Caucasus, and also southwestern Asia in Turkey. Other vernacular names used in cultivation include small periwinkle, common periwinkle, and sometimes in the United States, myrtle or creeping myrtle.

Vinca minor is a trailing, viny subshrub, spreading along the ground and rooting along the stems to form large clonal colonies and occasionally scrambling up to 40 centimetres (16 in) high but never twining or climbing. The leaves are evergreen, opposite, 2–4.5 centimetres (0.79–1.77 in) long and 1–2.5 centimetres (0.39–0.98 in) broad, glossy dark green with a leathery texture and an entire margin.

The flowers are solitary in the leaf axils and are produced mainly from early spring to mid summer but with a few flowers still produced into the autumn; they are violet-purple (pale purple or white in some cultivated selections), 2–3 centimetres (0.79–1.18 in) diameter, with a five-lobed corolla. The fruit is a pair of follicles 2.5 centimetres (0.98 in) long, containing numerous seeds.


The closely related species Vinca major is similar, but larger in all parts, and also has relatively broader leaves with a hairy margin.

The species is commonly grown as a groundcover in temperate gardens for its evergreen foliage, spring and summer flowers, ease of culture, and dense habit that smothers most weeds. The species has few pests or diseases outside its native range and is widely naturalized and classified as an invasive species in parts of North America. Invasion can be restricted by removal of rooting stems in spring. 


Once established, it is difficult to eradicate, as its waxy leaves shed most water-based herbicide sprays. Removal involves cutting, followed by immediate application of concentrated glyphosate or triclopyr to the cut stems. Repeated chemical treatments may be necessary, along with digging up the roots where feasible.

Vitex rotundifolia

Vitex rotundifolia, the roundleaf chastetree or beach vitex is a species of Vitex that is native to seashores throughout the Pacific. Its range includes continents and islands stretching from India east to Hawaii and from Korea south to Australia. This woody perennial plant typically grows approximately 1 m in height. It has a sprawling growth habit and produces runners that root regularly at nodes. This rooting pattern allows the plant to spread rapidly. 

A mature Vitex rotundifolia produces fragrant, blue-purple flowers that are borne in clusters and ultimately yield small purblish-black fruits. Its leaves are rounded at the tips with green upper surfaces and silver lower surfaces. While the plant is a seashore obligate, it grows over a wide latitude range. It has been used for medicinal purposes throughout its native range. More recently, it was imported to the eastern United States where it has become a seashore invasive. Control efforts are presently underway to protect the fragile beach dune ecosystem.

Vegetative Growth

Beach vitex can reach 1 to 2 foot high and typically 12 feet in diameter, but runners can grow to infinite lengths with reports of up to 60 feet long. Stems root along their length forming a mat on the sand. Leaf arrangement is opposite. Leaves are simple, rounded, and gray-green in color with dense, grayish-white hairs on the lower surface. Leaves are 2” long by 1.5” wide. 

Problems Caused

Beach vitex (Vitex rotundifolia L.f.) is a deciduous woody vine that was introduced to the Southeastern U.S. from Korea in the mid-1980’s. Prior to its intoduction to the South Atlantic coast of the U.S., beach vitex had no history of invasiveness. However, by the mid-1990’s, dune restoration specialists with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, began to notice beach vitex spreading from original plantings on South Carolina beaches, crowding out native dune plants, and spreading by seeds and vegetative fragments. 
Over the past two years, the South Carolina Beach Vitex Task Force has documented beach vitex at 115+ populations along the South Carolina coast. It also occurs along the North Carolina coast, and was recently observed on a beach in Alabama. Efforts are now underway to map and monitor its spread. 

Cirsium arvense

Cirsium arvense is a species of Cirsium, native throughout Europe and northern Asia, and widely introduced elsewhere. The standard English name in its native area is creeping thistle.

It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing 30–100 cm, forming extensive clonal colonies from rhizomes that send up numerous erect stems each spring, reaching 1–1.2 m tall (occasionally more).

Stems are green smooth and glabrous (having no trichomes or glaucousness), mostly without spiny wings. The leaves are very spiny, lobed, up to 15–20 cm long and 2–3 cm broad (smaller on the upper part of the flower stem).

The inflorescence is 10–22 mm diameter, pink-purple, with all the florets of similar form (no division into disc and ray florets). The flowers are usually dioecious, but not invariably so, with some plants bearing hermaphrodite flowers. The seeds are 4–5 mm long, with a feathery pappus which assists in wind dispersal.

There are two varieties:

• Cirsium arvense var. arvense. Most of Europe. Leaves hairless or thinly hairy beneath.
• Cirsium arvense var. incanum (Fisch.) Ledeb. Southern Europe. Leaves thickly hairy beneath.

As a subclassification of the "Eudicot" monophyletic group, Cirsium is a "true dicotyledon". The number of Pollen grain furrows or pores helps classify the flowering plants, with eudicots having three colpi (tricolpate).

C. arvense is a C3 carbon fixation plant. The C3 plants, originated during Mesozoic and Paleozoic eras, and tend to thrive in areas where sunlight intensity is moderate, temperatures are moderate, and ground water is plentiful. C3 plants lose 97% of the water taken up through their roots to transpiration.

The seeds are an important food for goldfinch and linnet, and to a lesser extent for other finches. Creeping thistle foliage is used as a food by over 20 species of Lepidoptera, including the painted lady butterfly and the engrailed, a species of moth, and several species of aphids.


The flowers are visited by a wide variety of insects (the generalized pollination syndrome).

The species is widely considered a weed even where it is native, for example being designated an "injurious weed" in the United Kingdom under the Weeds Act 1959. It is also a serious invasive species in many additional regions where it has been introduced, usually accidentally as a contaminant in cereal crop seeds. It is cited as a noxious weed in several countries; for example Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United States. Many countries regulate this plant, or its parts (i.e., seed) as a contaminant of other imported products such as grains for consumption or seeds for propagation. In Canada, Cirsium arvense is classified as a primary noxious weed seed in the Weed Seeds Order 2005 which applies to Canada's Seeds Regulations.


Control methods include:
cutting at flower stem extension before the flower buds open to prevent seed spread. Repeated cutting at the same growth stage over several years may "wear down" the plant.
Applying herbicide: Herbicides dominated by phenoxy compounds (especially MCPA) saw drastic declines in thistle infestation in Sweden in the 1950s. MCPA and Clopyralid are approved in some regions.

Orellia ruficauda feeds on Canada thistle and has been reported to be the most effective biological control agent for that plant. Its larvae parasitize the seed heads, feeding solely upon fertile seed heads.

Leucophyllum frutescens

Leucophyllum frutescens is an evergreen shrub in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae, native to the state of Texas in the southwestern United States and the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas in northern Mexico. Although commonly known as Texas sage, it is not a true sage and is distinct from the genus Salvia. The species is also called Texas Ranger, Texas rain sage, cenizo, Texas silverleaf, Texas barometerbush, ash-bush, wild lilac, purple sage, senisa, cenicilla, palo cenizo, or hierba del cenizo.

The solitary axillary flowers are bell- or funnel-shaped, with five lobes and two lips. This species is found in rocky, calcareous soils.

Texas Sage is a popular ornamental plant, commonly used for edge and area plantings in warmer and drier areas; it requires minimal water, is easily shaped into hedges, and blooms over the entire surface. It is available in a variety of cultivars, including 'Green Cloud', 'White Cloud', 'Compacta', 'Convent', and 'Bert-Star'.

Description:
A gray shrub with leaves densely covered with stellate, silvery hairs and bright pink-lavender, bilaterally symmetrical flowers borne singly in crowded leaf axils. Typically a compact shrub, 2-5 ft. tall, Texas barometer-bush or cenizo occasionally reaches 8 ft. in height, and 4-6 ft. in width. Leaves silvery gray to greenish, soft to the touch, up to 1 1/4 inches long but mostly 1 inch or less, tapering more gradually to the base than to the rounded tip, margins smooth. Flowers violet to purple, sometimes pink, nearly bell shaped, and up to 1 inch in length and width, appearing intermittently from spring to fall. Fruit a small capsule.

Agastache foeniculum

Agastache foeniculum commonly called anise hyssop, blue giant hyssop, Fragrant giant hyssop, or the lavender giant hyssop, is a species of perennial plant in the mint family, (Lamiaceae). This plant is native to much of north-central and northern North America, notably the Great Plains and other prairies, and can be found in areas of Canada. It is tolerant of deer and drought, and also attracts hummingbirds and butterflies making it an attractive selection for gardeners. 

Anise hyssop is in the same family as hyssop (the mint family Lamiaceae), but they are not closely related. Hyssop (Hyssopus) is a genus of about 10-12 species of herbaceous or semi-woody plants native from the east Mediterranean to central Asia. The genus name is related to the flower clusters, derived from the Greek word argan meaning "ear of grain".

Description
Agastache foeniculum, commonly known as anise hyssop, is an upright, clump-forming perennial of the mint family that is native to parts of the upper Midwest and Great Plains (Wisconsin to Ontario west to British Columbia and south to Colorado). It is typically found in prairies, dry upland forested areas, plains and fields. It grows to 2-4' tall. It is noted for its mid- to late summer bloom of lavender to purple flowers in terminal spikes and its anise-scented foliage. 

Square stems are clad with ovate to broad-lanceolate dull green leaves (to 4" long) with toothed margins. Flowers appear in many-flowered verticillasters (false whorls) which are densely packed into showy, cylindrical, terminal flower spikes (3-6" long). Gaps sometimes appear along the flower spike. Individual, tiny, tubular, two-lipped flowers (each to 1/3" long) have no fragrance. 

Flowers are attractive to bees (good nectar plant), hummingbirds and butterflies. Aromatic leaves can be used to make herbal teas or jellies. Seeds can be added to cookies or muffins. Dried leaves can be added to potpourris.


Genus name comes from the Greek words agan meaning very much and stachys meaning an ear of wheat in reference to the flower spikes.

Jacaranda mimosifolia

Jacaranda mimosifolia is a sub-tropical tree native to south-central South America that has been widely planted elsewhere because of its beautiful and long-lasting blue flowers. It is also known as jacaranda, blue jacaranda, black poui, or as the fern tree. Older sources give it the systematic name Jacaranda acutifolia, but it is nowadays more usually classified as Jacaranda mimosifolia. In scientific usage, the name "Jacaranda" refers to the genus Jacaranda, which has many other members, but in horticultural and everyday usage, it nearly always means the blue jacaranda.

  The blue jacaranda has been cultivated in almost every part of the world where there is no risk of frost; established trees can however tolerate brief spells of temperatures down to around −7 °C (19 °F). In the USA, 48 km (30 mi) east of Los Angeles where winter temperatures can dip to −12 °C (10 °F) for short several-hour periods, the mature tree survives with little or no visible damage.

In the United States, it grows in parts of Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas and Florida, the Mediterranean coast of Spain, in southern Portugal (very noticeably in Lisbon), southern Italy (in Naples and Cagliari it's quite easy to come across beautiful specimens). It was introduced to Cape Town by Baron von Ludwig in about 1829. It is regarded as an invasive species in parts of South Africa and Queensland, Australia, the latter of which has had problems with the Blue Jacaranda preventing growth of native species. Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, and Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, also see the growth of many Jacarandas.


The tree grows to a height of 5 to 15 m (16 to 49 ft). Its bark is thin and grey-brown in colour, smooth when the tree is young though it eventually becomes finely scaly. The twigs are slender and slightly zigzag; they are a light reddish-brown in colour. The flowers are up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long, and are grouped in 30 cm (12 in) panicles. They appear in spring and early summer, and last for up to two months. They are followed by woody seed pods, about 5 cm (2.0 in) in diameter, which contain numerous flat, winged seeds. The Blue Jacaranda is cultivated even in areas where it rarely blooms, for the sake of its large compound leaves. These are up to 45 cm (18 in) long and bi-pinnately compound, with leaflets little more than 1 cm (0.39 in) long. There is a white form available from nurseries.


Profuse flowering is regarded as magnificent by some and quite messy by others. The unusually shaped, tough pods, which are 5.1 to 7.6 cm (2 to 3 in) across, are often gathered, cleaned and used to decorate Christmas trees and dried arrangements.

Aechmea fasciata

Aechmea fasciata (silver vase, urn plant) is a species of flowering plant in the bromeliad family, native to Brazil. This plant is probably the best known species in this genus, and it is often grown as a houseplant in temperate areas. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
It sometimes takes a year or two to flower fully, but it grows easily and can last a surprisingly long time.

The plant grows slowly, reaching 30–90 cm (12–35 in) in height, with a spread of up to 60 cm (24 in). It has elliptic–oval-shaped leaves 45–90 cm (18–35 in) long and arranged in a basal rosette pattern.

A. fasciata requires partial shade and a well-drained, but moisture-retentive soil. It can also be grown epiphytically, as, for example, with moss around its roots and wired to rough bark. Root rot can be a problem if the soil is too moist.

Small insects and mosquitos will sometimes breed in the pools of water that are trapped between the leaves.

A. fasciata is listed in the FDA Poisonous Plant Database under the section for "Skin irritating substances in plants" and is known to cause contact dermititis, phytophoto dermatitis, and contact allergy.

Aechmea fasciata Care Instructions
Light
Bright indirect sunlight is required, more so if you are attempting to grow the plant to flowering stage. Avoid exposure to direct sunlight or you risk scorching the leaves and permanently ruining the plant's appearance.

Watering
Be careful not to over water an Urn Plant at any time. Keep the central vase filled with water, emptying and refill every couple of months. The vase is the central container from which the flower bract emerges from, in the center of the plant.

If the vase is filled then you only need to water the compost when it dries out, otherwise maintain moist soil conditions.

Humidity
Mist the leaves occasionally during warm months. Otherwise humidity is not important in standard homes. If you have very dry air you will need to mist more often to keep the leaves looking their best.

Temperature
If given a choice Urn Plants prefer warmer conditions, but they're not especially fussy about temperature. They are fine from 15°C to 21°C

Propagation
The Urn Plant will eventually produce offsets around the base of its stem, called pups.This usually starts to end it's flowering cycle offsets will appear around the base. Once the flowering bract and the adult plant starts to decline you can remove the offsets, trying to retain some of their roots. Pot up into a small pot using normal compost and treat just as you did the adult plant.

Speed of Growth
Urn Plants are normally slow growers, especially the mature ones. Young plants are likely to grow faster. 

Height / Spread
Given the right conditions, it can grow to be around 70cm / 28in and the spread 60cm / 2ft.

Flowers
Although it's the flowering bract which is the show stopper, the true flowers are actually very small and short lived. They are normally blue and cautiously poke out of the bright pink flowering bract so they can be hard to spot at a causal glance. It's usual to buy Urn Plants already at flowering stage, however if you are growing a young plant, you can expect them to appear once it's about five years old.

Aporocactus Flagelliformis

Disocactus flagelliformis or (Rattail Cactus) is a species of Cactaceae and is the most cultivated species in the genus. Due to its ease of cultivation and attractive floral displays, D. flagelliformis is often grown as an ornamental pot plant.

grows stems up to a few feet long, that hang and display brownish colored spines, which can be a bit sharp (do take care when handling). These stems are approximately 0.5 to 1 inch thick. 
The flowers are a very attractive (2-4inches/5cm - 10cm wide) pink tubular type that usually bloom within spring for up to 5 days. 

These flowers will grow from any part of the stem and you can expect plenty of them. Some flowers would look more attractive than others, depending on how they grow. They attract growers that love cacti and quite unusual looking plants.

Growing and care: Similar to many other cacti plants they are very easy to grow indoors and outside, as long at the temperature is favorable, within a container or hanging basket.

Temperature: Temperatures averaging 50°F/10°C - 75°F/23.8°C are ideal but not below 40°F/5°C and avoid frost.

Light: The rat tail cactus thrives on bright light, but not direct sunlight. It also enjoys the warmth of the summer sun while it sits within a shaded area. Some sunlight and shade is great.

Watering: It's advisable to water this plant frequently within the summer and much less winter time. Add water at the top of the pot or container and allow it to seep through to the drainage holes, then remove the excess water from the pot tray. Keeping the soil slightly moist is also advisable within the summer.

Soil:  A pot mixture used for cactus plants will suffice.

Re-Potting: Re-potting every 2 -3 years is advised and when it becomes pot bound. Remember the spines can be prickly so you may want to wear protective gloves while re-potting.

Humidity: Humidity does not seem to be a major concern for the Disocactus flagelliformis, making the average indoor environment fine.


Propagation:These are propagated by stem cuttings early summer. Letting fresh cuttings to dry for a few days can help the wounds heal and encourage it to grow air roots, if humidity is favorable. 

Epiphyllum anguliger

Epiphyllum anguliger, commonly known as the fishbone cactus, is a cactus species native to Mexico. The species is commonly grown as an ornamental for its beautiful, fragrant flowers in the fall.

The fruit is said to taste like gooseberries.

This species is named for its deeply toothed stems ("anguliger" = "angle bearing") which sometimes make a perfect rectangle.
This widespread species is endemic to Mexico, where it is distributed in the States of Guerrero, Jalisco, Nayarit and Oaxaca at elevations of 1,100 to 1,800 m.

An easily cultivated, fast growing epiphyte. Needs a compost containing plenty of humus and sufficient moisture in summer. Should be kept at 16–25 °C (61–77 °F), it may drop to 10–15 °C (50–59 °F) for shorter periods. Best grown in semi-shade. Flowers in late autumn or early winter.

Stems profusely branched, primary stems terete at base, often woody, apical part and secondary stems flat and rather succulent, 20–30 cm long, 3–5 cm wide, deeply lobed, often to near midrib, the lobes rectangular to obtuse or rounded; areoles small nude or with 1-2 white bristles; epidermis green, smooth.

Flowers 6–20 cm long, 6–7 cm wide, nocturnal, strongly sweet-scented *; pericarpel with podarium; receptacle 8–16 cm long, 4 mm thick, pale yellow, greenish or pinkish, bracteoles few, minute, linear and green, adpressed; outer tepals 10, linear to linear-lanceolate, acute, spreading or reflexed, 4–5 cm long, lemon yellow to brownish yellow; inner tepals lanceolate to ovate, acute or acuminate, white, sometimes toothed, as long as outer tepals; stamens in two rows, white, erect to subdeclinate, nearly as long as tepals; style longer than inner tepals, white; stigma lobes 8-11, linear. Fruit ovoid, brownish, greenish or yellowish, 3–4 cm thick.

Hemerocallis fulva

Hemerocallis fulva, the orange day-lily,tawny daylily, tiger daylily, fulvous daylily or ditch lily (also railroad daylily, roadside daylily, outhouse lily, tiger lily, and wash-house lily), is a species of daylily native to Asia. It is very widely grown as an ornamental plant in temperate climates for its showy flowers and ease of cultivation. It is not related to true lilies, but gets its name from the similarity of the flowers and from the fact that each flower lasts only one day.

Orange daylily is native to Asia from the Caucasus east through the Himalaya to China, Japan, and Korea. Orange daylily persists where planted, making them a very good garden plant.


Hemerocallis fulva var. fulva has escaped from cultivation across much of the United States and parts of Canada and has become a weedy or invasive species. It persists also where dumped and spreads more or less rapidly by vegetative increase into woods and fields and along roadsides and ditches, hence the common name ditch lily. It forms dense stands that exclude native vegetation, and is often so common that it is mistaken for a native species.

Daylilies established in natural areas pose a threat to native plants in field, meadows, floodplains, moist woods and forest edges. Once established, daylily multiplies and spreads to form dense patches that displace native plants. The thick tubers make it a challenge to control.

Corn Cockle (Agrostemma githago)

Corn cockle has grown as a weed among grain crops for millennia. It grew around Europe’s first Stone Age inhabited areas, and signs of it have been found in Pompei, which was covered in volcanic ash in ancient times. Corn cockle used to be a very familiar weed in rye fields in the south-western archipelago, and elsewhere in Finland it has sometimes appeared as an abundant alien, especially in fields that have been sown with Russian oats. Corn cockle also became more common in the years following crop failures, because seed then had to be imported.

The whole plant, especially the seeds, contains poisonous compounds, and they can spoil flour if they are not removed: the food tastes bad, and a larger amount can cause nausea and worse – it has been claimed that even five seeds is enough to cause death by paralyzing the respiratory system. Like many annuals corn cockle produces a lot of seed, up to 2,500 from a single plant. 

It likes cultivated soil, and it has overwintered at least partly mixed in with crop seed in grain silos. Over the last century it has been hit hard by changes in farming methods, especially the development of more efficient seed-cleaning, and it almost died out in Finland in the 1960s.
Nowadays corn cockle grows as a casual alien everywhere in Finland except northern Lapland along railways, in harbours, and on dry banks and waste ground. Finding it requires a slice of good luck however, and many eager botanists have never set eyes on it in the wild.

It grows with a stem to 100 cm long with lanceolate leaves. The flowers are up to 5 cm in diameter, usually single at the ends of the stem. The sepals have 5 narrow teeth much longer than the petals. It has 10 stamens. It has slender pink flowers. It is a stiffly erect plant up to 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) tall and covered with fine hairs. Its few branches are each tipped with a single deep pink to purple flower. The flowers are scentless, are 25–50 millimetres (1–2 in) across and are produced in the summer months – May to September in the northern hemisphere, November to March in the southern hemisphere.

Each petal bears two or three discontinuous black lines. The five narrow pointed sepals exceed the petals and are joined at the base to form a rigid tube with 10 ribs. Leaves are pale green, opposite, narrowly lanceolate, held nearly erect against stem and are 45–145 mm (1.8–5.7 in) long. Seeds are produced in a many-seeded capsule. It can be found in fields, roadsides, railway lines, waste places, and other disturbed areas.

Tussilago farfara

Tussilago farfara, commonly known as coltsfoot, is a plant in the groundsel tribe in the daisy family Asteraceae, native to Europe and parts of western and central Asia. It has had uses in traditional medicine. The name "tussilago" is derived from the Latin tussis, meaning cough, and ago, meaning to cast or to act on. 

Coltsfoot is a perennial herbaceous plant that spreads by seeds and rhizomes. Tussilago is often found in colonies of dozens of plants. The flowers, which superficially resemble dandelions, appear in early spring before dandelions appear. The leaves, which resemble a colt's foot in cross section, do not appear usually until after the seeds are set. Thus, the flowers appear on stems with no apparent leaves, and the later appearing leaves then wither and die during the season without seeming to set flowers. The plant is typically 10–30 cm in height. The leaves have angular teeth on their margins.

Tussilago farfara contains tumorigenic pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Senecionine and senkirkine, present in coltsfoot, have the highest mutagenetic activity of any pyrrolozidine alkaloid, tested using Drosophila melanogaster to produce a comparative genotoxicity test. 

There are documented cases of coltsfoot tea causing severe liver problems in an infant, and in another case, an infant developed liver disease and died because the mother drank tea containing coltsfoot during her pregnancy. In response the German government banned the sale of coltsfoot. Clonal plants of colstfoot free of pyrrolizidine alkaloids were then developed in Austria and Germany. This has resulted in the development of the registered variety Tussilago farfara 'Wien' which has no detectable levels of these alkaloids.

Coltsfoot has been used in herbal medicine and has been consumed as a food product with some confectionery products, such as Coltsfoot Rock. Tussilago farfara leaves have been used in the traditional Austrian medicine internally (as tea or syrup) or externally (directly applied) for treatment of disorders of the respiratory tract, skin, locomotor system, viral infections, flu, colds, fever, rheumatism and gout.

Rosa acicularis

Rosa acicularis is a deciduous shrub growing 1–3 m tall. The leaves are pinnate, 7–14 cm long, with three to seven leaflets. The leaflets are ovate, with serrate (toothed) margins. The flowers are pink (rarely white), 3.5–5 cm diameter; the hips are red, pear-shaped to ovoid, 10–15 mm diameter.

The ploidy of this rose species is variable. Botanical authorities have listed it as tetraploid and hexaploid in North America (subsp. sayi), and octoploid in Eurasia (subsp. acicularis). On the northern Great Plains and in northwest Canada, extending to Whitehorse, Yukon its populations are generally tetraploid.

Propagation                                        

Seed. Rose seed often takes two years to germinate. This is because it may need a warm spell of weather after a cold spell in order to mature the embryo and reduce the seedcoat. One possible way to reduce this time is to scarify the seed and then place it for 2 - 3 weeks in damp peat at a temperature of 27 - 32°c (by which time the seed should have imbibed). It is then kept at 3°c for the next 4 months by which time it should be starting to germinate. Alternatively, it is possible that seed harvested 'green' (when it is fully developed but before it has dried on the plant) and sown immediately will germinate in the late winter. This method has not as yet(1988) been fully tested. Seed sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame sometimes germinates in spring though it may take 18 months. Stored seed can be sown as early in the year as possible and stratified for 6 weeks at 5°c. 

It may take 2 years to germinate. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle. Plant out in the summer if the plants are more than 25cm tall, otherwise grow on in a cold frame for the winter and plant out in late spring. Cuttings of half-ripe wood with a heel, July in a shaded frame. Overwinter the plants in the frame and plant out in late spring. High percentage. Cuttings of mature wood of the current seasons growth. Select pencil thick shoots in early autumn that are about 20 - 25cm long and plant them in a sheltered position outdoors or in a cold frame. The cuttings can take 12 months to establish but a high percentage of them normally succeed. Division of suckers in the dormant season. Plant them out direct into their permanent positions.

Cultivation details
Succeeds in most soils, preferring a circumneutral soil and a sunny position. Prefers a slightly acid soil. Grows well in heavy clay soils. Dislikes water-logged soils. Grows well with alliums, parsley, mignonette and lupins. Garlic planted nearby can help protect the plant from disease and insect predation. Grows badly with boxwood. Hybridizes freely with other members of this genus. Produces its fruit abundantly in Britain. This plant is the floral emblem of Alberta. Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus.

Thlaspi caerulescens

Thlaspi caerulescens, Alpine Penny-cress and also known as alpine pennygrass, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is found in Scandinavia and Europe.

Thlaspi caerulescens is a low biennial or perennial plant that has small basal rosettes of stalked elliptic–lanceolate leaves with entire margins. The one or more flowering stems have small stalkless, alternate leaves clasping the stem. The inflorescence is a dense raceme which continues to lengthen after flowering. The individual flowers are regular, with white or pinkish petals and are about 5 mm (0.2 in) wide. Each has four sepals, four petals, six stamens (four long and two short) with violet anthers, and a single carpel. The fruit is many-seeded and narrowly spatulate and has a notched tip. This plant flowers in late spring.

In Europe it is found in Finland and Sweden, in all but the most northerly regions. It is also found in the Alps, the Massif Central, the Pyrenees, eastern Norway, southern Germany, and northern England. It is a plant of dry hillside meadows, forest margins, banks, gardens, lawns, pastures, field margins, yards and bare places.

The young leaves and flowers are a good substitute for cress. They are edible raw or cooked and are often mixed with other greens as a flavoring.

Eruca vesicaria

Eruca vesicaria (syn. Brassica vesicaria L.) is a species of Eruca native to the western Mediterranean region, in Morocco, Algeria, Spain and Portugal. It is closely related to Eruca sativa; that species is included in E. vesicaria by some botanists either as a subspecies E. vesicaria subsp. sativa or not distinguished at all; E. vesicaria can be distinguished from E. sativa by its persistent sepals.

It is an annual plant growing to 20–100 cm tall. The leaves are deeply pinnately lobed with four to ten small lateral lobes and a large terminal lobe. The flowers are 2–4 cm diameter, arranged in a corymb, with the typical Brassicaceae flower structure; the petals are creamy white with purple veins, and the stamens yellow; the sepals are persistent after the flower opens. The fruit is a siliqua (pod) 12–25 mm long with an apical beak, and containing several seeds.

Young leaves - raw or cooked. A distinct strongly spicy flavour, the taste is best from fast, well-grown plants. A few leaves added to a salad are acceptable though the flavour is too strong for many tastes. Some people really like these leaves though most are not very keen. 

Older leaves that have become too hot to eat on their own can be pureed and added to soups etc. In the milder areas of Britain it is possible to produce edible leaves all year round from successional sowings, especially if the winter crop is given some protection. Flowers - raw. A similar taste to the leaves, they make a nice garnish on the salad bowl. The seed yields a semi-drying oil which is edible if stored 6 months and is a substitute for rapeseed oil. It contains 32% fat, 27% protein. It is known as 'jamba oil'. A mustard is obtained from the seed, the strong flavour comes from an essential oil that is contained within the oil of the seed. 

The pungency of mustard develops when cold water is added to the ground-up seed - an enzyme (myrosin) acts on a glycoside (sinigrin) to produce a sulphur compound. The reaction takes 10 - 15 minutes. Mixing with hot water or vinegar, or adding salt, inhibits the enzyme and produces a mild bitter mustard.

Hesperis matronalis

Hesperis matronalis is a herbaceous plant species in the mustard family, Brassicaceae. It has numerous common names, including dame's rocket, damask violet, dame's-violet, dames-wort, dame's gilliflower, night-scented gilliflower, queen's gilliflower, rogue's gilliflower, summer lilac, sweet rocket, mother-of-the-evening and winter gilliflower. 

Plants are biennials or short-lived perennials, native to Eurasia and cultivated in many other areas of the world for their attractive, spring-blooming flowers. In some of those areas, it has escaped cultivation and become a weed species. The genus name Hesperis is Greek for evening, and the name was probably given because the scent of the flowers becomes more conspicuous towards evening.

This plant is often mistaken for Phlox. Phlox has five petals, Dame's Rocket has just four. The flowers, which resemble phlox, are deep lavender, and sometimes pink to white. The plant is part of the mustard family, which also  includes radishes, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and, mustard. 

The plant and flowers are edible, but fairly bitter. The flowers are attractive added to green salads. The young leaves can also be added to your salad greens (for culinary purposes, the leaves should be picked before the plant flowers). The seed can also be sprouted and added to salads. NOTE: It is not the same variety as the herb commonly called Rocket, which is used as a green in salads.

Description
Hesperis matronalis grows 100 cm or taller, with multiple upright, hairy stems. Typically, the first year of growth produces a mound of foliage, and flowering occurs the second year; the plants are normally biennials, but a number of races can be short-lived perennials. The plants have showy blooms in early to mid spring. 

The leaves are alternately arranged on upright stems and lanceolate-shaped; they typically have very short or lack petioles and have toothed margins, but sometimes are entire and are widest at the base. The foliage has short hairs on the top and bottom surfaces that give the leaves a somewhat rough feel. The larger leaves are around 12 cm long and over 4 cm wide. In early spring, a thick mound of low-growing foliage is produced; during flowering the lower parts of the stems are generally unbranched and denuded of foliage and the top of the blooming plant might have a few branches that end in inflorescences.

The plentiful, fragrant flowers are produced in large, showy, terminal racemes that can be 30+ cm tall and elongate as the flowers of the inflorescence bloom. When stems have both flowers and fruits, the weight sometimes causes the stems to bend. Each flower is large (2 cm across), with four petals. Flower coloration varies, with different shades of lavender and purple most common, but white, pink, and even some flowers with mixed colors exist in cultivated forms. 
A few different double-flowered varieties also exist. The four petals are clawed and hairless. The flowers have six stamens in two groups, the four closest to the ovary are longer than the two oppositely positioned. Stigmas are two-lobed. The four sepals are erect and form a mock tube around the claws of the petals and are also colored similarly to the petals.

Some plants may bloom until August, but warm weather greatly shortens the duration on each flower's blooming. Seeds are produced in thin fruits 5–14 cm long pods, containing two rows of seeds separated by a dimple. The fruit are terete and open by way of glabrous valves, constricted between the seeds like a pea pod. Seeds are oblong, 3–4 mm long and 1–1.5 mm wide. 

In North America, Hesperis matronalis is often confused with native Phlox species that also have similar large, showy flower clusters. They can be distinguished from each other by foliage and flower differences: dame's rocket has alternately arranged leaves and four petals per flower, while phloxes have opposite leaves and five petals.

(Streptocarpus) Cape primrose

Streptocarpus are easy to cultivate in a well-lit spot in the house.

Common name:  Cape primrose
Botanical name:  Streptocarpus
Group:  Houseplant
Flowering time:  Spring to autumn
Planting time:  Any season
Height and spread:  30cm (1ft) by 45cm (18in)
Aspect: Bright filtered or indirect light 
Hardiness:  Frost tender

Difficulty Easy: to moderate

Streptocarpus stomandrus

Spring/Summer
Keep in good light but do not expose to hot sun; an east or west facing windowsill is ideal
Plants in the greenhouse or conservatory will need some shade and good ventilation
Water regularly from March onwards. Plants can be watered from above or below, but don’t allow the pot to sit in water
Feed at two weekly intervals. Use a high potash plant feed at half strength from March to September or a specialist streptocarpus food
Remove dead flower stalks at their base

Autmn/Winter

• Move to a south facing windowsill for maximum light, but move further away from the window at night if it gets very cold next to the window
• Keep at normal room temperatures with a minimum of 7-10°C (45-50°F)
• Plants in the glasshouse should be kept at a minimum of 5°C (40°F)
• Stop feeding and only water when the compost is dry, plants may rot if the compost is too wet
• Some leaves may naturally die back and can be removed
• Crystal series plants may continue flowering so keep them in a very well-lit spot and continue feeding with quarter strength plant food
• Potting-on

Streptocarpus 'Dale's Scarlet Macaw'

Plants can be potted-on if necessary in spring, using a specialist houseplant or multi-purpose compost
When re-potting choose a pot only slightly bigger than the current one, about a thumb's width wider in diameter, or one 'pot size' larger if using old-fashioned clay pots. A wide shallow pot or half-pot is more suitable than a deep pot.
After potting-on only resume feeding when the roots have filled the pot (i.e. appear at the base of the pot) 
In dry heated rooms that lack humidity, stand pots on a saucer of grit or expanded clay granules which is kept moist to increase humidity

Streptocarpus propagation 

Propagation

• Leaf cuttings
• Leaf cuttings are taken in spring or early summer choose healthy younger leaves from the centre of the plant
• Cut across the leaf at 2in (5cm) intervals to give several sections; leaves can also be cut in half along the mid-rib
• Fill a seed tray with a mix of equal parts peat free compost and perlite
• Place the basal end in the compost about 1in (2.5cm) deep
• Water well
• Place in good light in a propagator, ideally heated, or cover with a plastic bag
• New plantlets should develop in four to six weeks along the cut edges of the leaf segment
• Once they are well rooted pot on to individual 3.5in (10cm) pots
• Seed
• Sow seed on the surface of a seed tray or pot of fine-textured seed compost
• Do not cover, although to retain moisture cling film maybe used over the pot 
• Keep between 21-24°C (70-75°F) in a greenhouse or on a windowsill, ideally in a heated propagator. Germination can take 10-14 days
• Growth may be very slow at first 
• When seedlings are established and have a true leaf, pot into individual pots
• Feed with a balanced general-purpose liquid feed
• From a late spring sowing plants may flower in 16-20 weeks
• Division
• Clumps of older plants can be pulled apart and divided when they are re-potted in the spring.