Recently added comments

Finely chop leaves for a slightly bitter peppery addition to salads and cheese spreads/dips. Infuse flowers for a facial steam or relaxing bath. Press fresh leaves onto razor cuts or small wounds to help staunch blood. Chew fresh leaf to soothe toothache, and swish infusion for inflamed gums. Tea may be used to regulate menstrual flow and to cleanse digestive system. Caution: extended use of leaves may result in skin sensitivity to light. The leaves will also help speed decomposition.

[ | Reply to this comment ]

The plant has blooms of three colors at the same time because each flower opens in a dark purple and then begins to fade to white in a few days.
I grow it in full sun and it blooms during the spring

[ | Reply to this comment ]

Increases blood circulation to the brain. Very slow to break dormancy in spring. Very slow growing. I've never heard anyone ever refer to this as a 'maidenhair tree' - could be a regional thing I suppose. It's always just been a gingko.

[ | 1 reply ]

This hardy fuchsia is very late to emerge in the spring (Pacific NW). Mark it well in the fall so you don't dig it up or plant over it.

[ | Reply to this comment ]

May be used medicinally for pain, gout, arthritis, anti-inflammatory. Striking plant with tiny magenta flowers on red stamens in foamy masses.

[ | Reply to this comment ]

New growth emerges red. Leaves mature to a dark green with a creamy center stripe. Striking tall plant that does not need staking, although it may droop in heavy rain.

[ | Reply to this comment ]

Feed before new growth begins in the spring. Shear to shape.

[ | Reply to this comment ]

Neat habit which doesn't require any pruning, bright green foliage in spring, white flowers, leaves turn a rich red in fall, and orange berries hold on all winter. Excellent low-maintenance four-season shrub.

This is not listed as an invasive plant in Washington, but rather appears to be more of a problem on the east coast. One should, however, be mindful of its potential to escape on the west coast as well. This plant is a mainstay of parking strip plantings, although they tend to get pruned often and severely so likely do not bear as much fruit as they would if left to their natural growth habit. I presume they spread through bird droppings, as they don't appear to sucker. I have never run across one wild in the PNW, nor had unwanted seedlings appear (I have 3 shrubs).

As a side note, this plant has been over-used to the point that my landscape son refers to it as "you wanna miss" that one..

[ | Reply to this comment ]

Dry flowers by cutting them just before the blooms have fully opened. Deadhead as a clump when most have turned brown. May re-seed. Very prickly, watch out!

[ | Reply to this comment ]

Burn the leaves to destroy fleas and lice. Try to fill the room with fumes, but avoid breathing them.

[ | Reply to this comment ]

Beautiful flower, but unfortunately it is a thug! I winter sowed this and planted out late in spring. Flowered all summer in my cottage garden. Doing fall clean up, I found it had spread dramatically up to two feet in every direction. It sends out deep runners underneath and through the root systems of other plants. I removed all I could, even digging up the plants it invaded and surrounded. I'm sure now I will be fighting to eliminate this for years to come. Pity, it is a pretty flower.

[ | Reply to this comment ]

Ruby Giant is well named as it has a much, much larger flower than common tommies. Also, the color on Ruby Giant just shimmers. I bought lots more of these to plant this fall after I saw how pretty the ones I had were this spring.

[ | Reply to this comment ]

I bought crocus Golden Bunch from Brent & Becky's last fall. I loved it so much when it flowered this spring that I planted more this fall. A very cheerful yellow, but a small flower that looks best if you have groupings for impact.

[ | Reply to this comment ]

Crocus sieberi Tricolor is such a cheerful spring flower. I love the lilac coloring and the color at the base of the open flowers. I only had a few of them. Had to buy more to plant this fall.

[ | Reply to this comment ]

‘The Royal Horticultural Society Horticultural Database’, available at www.rhs.org.uk describes this cultivar thusly - 'Fl. rounded, 105 mm wide; perianth segments very broadly ovate, blunt, fairly prominently mucronate, greenish white (155A), plane, overlapping half or more; corona split to base, the six segments three-quarters the length of the perianth segments, opposite and closely overlying them and joined to them at margins from base to shoulder, deeply bi-lobed, with the lobes overlapping, smooth, vivid yellow 9A, deeply frilled'.
Used as a parent 3 times in breeding programs, twice as seed parent, once as pollen parent. Listing of descendants available at DaffSeek (10-9-13) - http://daffseek.org/query/Desc...

[ | Reply to this comment ]

Used as a seed parent for 'Firefighter,' a Division 3 yellow-petalled, red-cupped daff bred by Nial Watson in Northern Ireland, UK, 2012.

[ | Reply to this comment ]

Used in breeding programs because cultivar is both seed and pollen fertile. Used 4 times as seed parent, twice as pollen parent. List of descendants available at http://daffseek.org/query/Desc...
DaffSeek 10-9-13.
Good to force.

[ | Reply to this comment ]

Considered a noxious weed in many parts of the country, Bull Thistle is often confused with Musk Thistle. The leaves of mature Musk Thistle lack the hairs found on the leaves of Bull Thistles.

[ | Reply to this comment ]

Here is an interesting comment made by Kevin Vaughn:

JungleShadows said:Peter,

Interesting that 'Killer' is behaving the same in Germany. The 'Killer' X self seedlings show these striking changes but interestingly the 'Jungle Shadows' X 'Killer' seedlings seem to be year round very intense, almost as though it captured one one of the phases of 'Killer', but these seedlings don't change much. In some of the other crosses with 'Killer' the changeable colors show in some of the seedlings but others also capture one of the phases of 'Killer' but in a more permanent state.

When 'Jungle Shadows' first appeared as a seedling I was amazed at how well the color held up. In those days it was one of the few that did have color all year. Most turned green. I remember my call from Helen Payne after she received that plant "We can sell LOTS of that one Kevin". Amazingly, 45 years later they still are selling it! In the seedlings from self pollinating 'Jungle Shadows' there have been a majority of seedlings that keep color year round.

Kevin

[ | Reply to this comment ]

The International Daffodil Register & Classified List has 2 entries under this name. The second one is also a registered trumpet Division 1 daffodil (w/ a 1st flowering date of pre1929).

[ | Reply to this comment ]