Heirloom Plants

Deep purplish-blue 3-petaled flowers emerge in succession from long-lasting flattened purplish-pink bracts in both spring and fall atop the rosette of narrow deep green arching foliage. The Pink Quill Plant, Tillandsia cyanea or now Wallisia cyanea, is one of the easiest to grow and most popular bromeliads which can be enjoyed as a small container plant, hanging basket, or it can be attached to wood as an epiphyte. This dainty bromeliad was awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit for its ease of culture and reliability. The Pink Quill Plant will multiply creating pups from the base of the mother plant after flowering which can be left to create full rootbound plants that flower longer. Provide an average moist but well-drained soil and allow the soil to become slightly dry between waterings. Item# 11924

2-1/2" wide, miniature Amaryllis-like flowers are white heavily blushed with pink toward the ends of the recurving petals. A wonderful and easy bulbous perennial, the Pink Rainlily or Brazilian Copper Lily flowers on and off from mid spring to fall and the flowers are held well-above the narrow, strap-like foliage. Item# 783.
 

2-1/2" wide, miniature Amaryllis-like, white flowers are heavily blushed with pink toward the ends of the recurving petals. A wonderful and easy bulbous perennial, the Pink Rainlily or Brazilian Copper Lily flowers on and off from mid spring to fall and the flowers are held well-above the narrow, strap-like foliage. Item# 9541.

Deep rosy pink widely flaring flowers 3-4" across pop up above the deep green narrow grass-like foliage after summer rains. This is the Rainlily my grandparents grew and cherished and maybe yours too! A beautiful and easy perennial bulb that quickly multiplies into dense clumps that can be added to the perennial garden, strewn along the edges of walks, added to the lawn, or even enjoyed as a container plant. Tough durable and reliable just plant it and wait for the rains to begin! Multiple plants per pot. Item# 10926.

2" deep purplish-pink double rose-like flowers with yellow stamens are born in summer on this unusual Cactus species. Rose Cactus is probably the least cactus-like Cactus with it's broad rounded semi-succulent foliage on a shrub-like plant. An easy and rewarding plant for indoors or out. Item# 9924.

Large often pyramidal sprays of small rose colored flowers are produced from spring to fall on mature plants and are held against a foil of medium green heart-shaped foliage. The flowers are in constant use by honeybees and occasionally by butterflies. The Rosa Montana or Coral Vine, Antigonon leptopus, is a tendriled, tuberous tropical vine that is evergreen in frost free regions but acts like a die-back perennial in areas that experience freezing temperatures returning from the tubers in spring. As a perennial vine, it typically remains in the 8-15' range but can exceed 40' high in tropical regions. Provide a full sun to mostly sunny site in a well-drained, average moist, fertile soil for optimum growth and flowering. Easy to grow with moderate drought resistant once well-established, though this may reduce growth and flowering. In areas where hard freezes occur, plant out early in the growing season and no later than by midsummer to help insure winter survival. Item# 825

The 2-1/2" to 3" wide, rich watermelon pink, funnel-shaped flowers sport a contrasting deep red blotch on the upper most petals and are produced in midspring on this highly popular old cultivar. Pride of Mobile Azalea, a.k.a. Elegans Superba or Watermelon, is a vigorous heirloom Southern Indica evergreen azalea with an initially upright habit to about 6-8'(-10') and wide. Its vigorous habit lend this large growing evergreen azalea to use as an informal hedge, specimen plant, and as a spring flowering backdrop for mixed perennial gardens as well as in the landscape. Azaleas do best in average moist, acidic soils that are rich in organic matter but have good to excellent drainage and should be top dressed with an organic mulch such as pine straw and pine bark. We recommend using a slow-release, non-burning fertilizer that is labeled for acidic loving plants. Azalea flowers attract a variety of pollinators including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Item# 12802

Primrose yellow, trumpet shaped flowers to 2" across are often blushed on the outside of the flower with peachy pink. The Primrose Yellow Rainlily produces its flowers singly on sturdy stalks over a long period beginning in late spring and may last into fall. This is an easy to grow and drought tolerant perennial that readily multiplies from offsets as well as seeds. Multiple plants per pot. Item# 10395.

Medium-sized, bright cherry red, formal double flowers, occasionally with lighter markings on inner petals, are produced in midseason, January to February. Prince Eugene Napoleon Camellia is an heirloom, large flowered Japonica with a moderate rate of growth and an upright to rounded, densely branching habit and glossy, medium green foliage. You can nearly always tell how popular the heirloom Camellias are and were by the number of synonyms they've amassed over the years and this one has long been a favorite as you can see here: Pope Pius IX, Rosedale Beauty, Ladiner's Red, Mrs. Harry Davis, Imbricata Rubra Plena, Queen of Denmark, Flore Plena Atrorubens, Rubra Plena Imbricata, Conte de Name, and Venus de Medicis. Provide Camellias with a fertile soil rich in organic matter, with average moisture, and an organic mulch. While this image shows a flower that is mostly white, the flowers of Miss Charleston Variegated are typically more red than white. Images courtesy of Cam Too Camellia Nursery, all rights reserved. Item# 13239

Spikes of soft golden-orange upward facing funnel-shaped flowers are produced non-stop from mid to late spring to fall atop the medium green foliage attracting hummingbirds, occasional butterflies, and long-tongued bees. Pumpkin Pie Hummingbird Bush, a selection of Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii and potentially the same as the cultivar 'Bennie's Gold', is a small decidous native shrub from South Texas with excellent flower power. This easy and reliable heirloom has an upright to spreading busny habit rarely exceeding 3-4' in height (3'x3' is fairly typical in our zone 8B gardens) and it revels in the heat and sun of summer and is undaunted by the high humidity and high rainfall of the southeastern US. In the northernmost portion of its hardiness range, zones 7A-8A, the Hummingbird Bush may freeze back to near groundlevel in the hardest winters but readily returns to flowering by mid to late spring. Provide a full sun to mostly sunny site in a well-drained, fertile, average moist soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Small enough for containers but makes a no-maintenance addition the garden and landscape. Catepillar host for Crimson Patch. Item# 9671

Beautiful dark purplish-red with a purplish tinge to the outer edges of the petals. Large formal double blooms to 5 inches across. Blooms winter to early spring. A reliable and easily grown Camellia. 'Purple Dawn', as it is offered locally, is considered to be actually 'Mathotiana' and it also known as: Julia Drayton, Mathotiana Rubra, Purple Emperor, Purple Prince, and William S. Hastie. Item# 892.

Spike-like racemes composed of numerous 1-1/2" long, tubular, deep pinkish purple flowers are produced from spring to frost to potentially year-round under warm tropical conditions potentially attracting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Purple Fountains Skullcap, a selection of Scutellaria longifolia, is a mounding, naturally evergreen, herbaceous perennial perfectly suited for hanging baskets or container culture as a spiller or filler and is considered to be a root hardy, dieback perennial into zone 8. It can also be utilized as a groundcover for near the front of the border or landscape. Hanging basket culture will bring the nectar rich flowers within easy reach for hummingbirds. Provide an average moist to moist, fertile soil in full sun to partly shaded conditions for optimum vigor and flowering. Provide an organic mulch to protect the crown in areas where freezes occur if it is intended to be grown as a perennial. Item# 862

Solid purple clusters of fragrant flowers open late in the day attracting larger butterflies, bees, and especially the mystical hummingbird moths. The Purple Four O'Clock grows to form a large tuber from which it will return to grace your garden year after year and they flower continuously throughout the summer months. Easy and reliable and may reseed under good conditions. Item# 11174

An exceptionally cold hardy and easy to grow bromeliad! The Queen's Tears Bromeliad produces large arching stems covered in big showy pink bracts the last bracts on the stems open to reveal hanging clusters of green flowers with delicately recurving petals edged in deep bluish purple, contrasting bright yellow stamens along with matching pink calyxes. The tropical, nectar rich flowers are produced in mid winter. The blue gray rosettes of foliage provide excellent contrast for the brightly colored flower spikes. Queen's Tears readily multiplies by rhizomes creating a dense mass of foliage and can be grown in a well draining soil or as a semi-epiphyte on a board. Item# 11117

Large clusters of long-lasting, light lavender, mauve, to purple calyxes serve as the backdrop for the contrasting deep red, 1" wide, butterfly shaped flowers that are produced throughout the warmer months of the year, as early as midspring to about mid fall. The Red Bleeding Heart Vine, Clerodendrum x speciosum, is a naturally evergreen, heirloom, twining, tropical climber that is one of the better and more reliable flowering vines for shaded areas, although it can also take *full sun, if acclimated, where it may be even more floriferous, and it attracts butterflies and likely hummingbirds. I have always found it interesting that many of the butterfly and moth pollinated species in the genus Clerodendrum appropriately have butterfly shaped flowers. Provide the Red Bleeding Heart Vine with a moist to average moist, fertile, average to well-drained soil for optimum vigor and flowering. This is a hybrid of the White Bleeding Heart Vine, C. thompsonae, and the Flaming Glory Bower Vine, C. splendens. Item# 599

The Red Firecracker Fern produces loads of 1" showy red tubular flowers that are born in large loose clusters along the arching ferny stems throughout the warmer months of the year or nearly year round where winters are mild. Excellent for Hummingbirds! This is a durable and long-lived, clump forming perennial that requires little additional care once well-established. The Firecracker Fern has excellent heat and sun tolerance as well as moderate drought resistance once well-established. It is even listed as being suitable for xeriscaping. Firecracker Fern, Russelia equisetiformis, is listed as a Texas A&M Outstanding Coastal Plant as it has excellent resistance to soil and wind born salts, though it could use some protection from harsh, drying winds. It is also an RHS Award of Garden Merit selection. It can be used as a low informal hedge, allow it to spill over walls, enjoy it as a hanging basket, window box, or container specimen, as well as in mixed container gardens. Item# 417

It's hard to beat Turk's Cap for sheer flower power! From summer to fall the brilliant red flowers just keep coming. Red Hot, a.k.a. Red Spreader, is a lower growing and more spreading form of Turk's Cap with slightly larger red flowers that was selected by plantsman Greg Grant who also developed Pam Puryear's Pink, and Big Momma. Greg says that Red Hot has a more noticeable lower and spreading habit when grown in full sun. Excellent for Hummingbirds and Butterflies, especially the Sulphurs. Item# 9726.

Thin flat scalloped stems turn deep red to near purple-red when the plants are grown where they receive high light and produce long-lasting decorative white berries along the leaf edges that follow the small inconspicuous flowers. The Red Mistletoe Cactus or Red Rhipsalis, Pseudorhipsalis ramulosa, is an easy to grow vigorous tropical cactus whose weeping stems can create an amazing specimen hanging basket plant. A component of tropical forests with an epiphytic-like growth habit, it naturally receives filtered sunlight and will have the most intense color where it receives high indirect light to cool sunlight, like early morning or very late evening or filtered sunlight. Provide a well-drained soil and average moisture for optimum growth and vigor. Item# 11825

The Red Shrimp Plant produces a continuous display of upright to arching spikes composed of large showy maroon bracts from which the individual maroonish-red and white tubular flowers emerge in spring and summer to year round under warm tropical conditions. This plant has exceptional flower power and makes a beautiful display as a container plant specimen and in mixed container gardens as well as in the garden and landscape. The common Shrimp Plant, Justicia brandegeeana, is a heat loving, naturally evergreen, bushy, tropical plant with dark olive green foliage and grows to about 24" high by about 18" wide. It is both full sun and bright shade tolerant but tends to have the densest branching habit where it receives at least 4 hours or more of direct sunlight. Provide an average to well-drained, moderately fertile, average moist soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Attracts hummingbirds and the occasional larger butterfly and is an RHS Award of Garden Merit winner. Caterpillar host: Cuban Crescent, Texan Crescent, White Peacock, and Malachite. Item# 620

A wonderfully colorful fall suprise, the Red Spider Lily produces neatly rounded clusters of deep red spidery flowers atop sturdy 12-18" high stems in late summer and early fall before the blue-green narrow straplike foliage emerges for winter. The nectar rich flowers attract larger butterflies and the large yellow Sulphur butterflies seem to be especially attracted to them. This heirloom pass-a-long multiplies readily to create a dense clump of offsets that can be divided in summer. Each pot contains 3 medium to large flowering size bulbs that can be planted anytime of year from containers. Work them into garden and landscapes but they can also be allowed to naturalize in the lawn. Item# 9338

A multitude of upward facing, sleepy, scarlet blooms are born among the soft, dark green foliage from late spring to frost. A hardy and long-lived, spreading to upright perennial, Turk's Cap is an easy to grow heirloom that will flower in sun or light shade. An excellent nectar plant for hummingbirds as well as butterflies. Caterpillar host: Glassy Winged Skipper. Resistant to browsing by deer and moderately drought resistant once well-established. The ripe fruits are readily consumed by birds and other wildlife, along with the occasional curious human. Item# 691.