Rare & Unusual Plants

An unusual plant rarely found for sale in the US, Giant Blue African Salvia produces spikes, up to 16" high, of blue to purple, up to 2" long, hooded, two-lipped, tubular, lightly fragrant flowers throughout the warmer months of the year with the heaviest flowering in spring and late summer and fall. A vigorous tender herbaceous plant with very large tropical foliage and square stems that can easily reach 6-9' high and may grow to 15' high becoming tree-like in its native habitat. Item# 10703.

The clusters of purple to purplish-pink 3" wide trumpet shaped flowers with a nicely contrasting white ring surrounding the yellow throats that are lined with fine magenta lines that guide large bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds to the nectar and pollen reward inside. The Glowvine, Bignonia magnifica, is a highly desireable, exceptionally free flowering, naturally evergreen tropical vine with unusual pairs of oval leaflets that are centered by its grasping tendrils. Once mature, these easy to grow vigorous vines can flower continuously throughout the year under warm tropical conditions. The Glowvine (a.k.a. Glow Vine) can be trained as a shrub and overwintered indoors with regular pruning or allow it to cover fences, trellises, and arbors in tropical regions. Item# 12033

The fine dark green linear foliage is tipped with a slightly larger rounded pad and adorns fine trailing to twining stems. The Grass-Leaved Hoya, Hoya retusa, produces white waxy flowers that are centered by a nicely contrasting deep burgundy 'eye' in spring and on and off during the growing season on mature plants. The flowers are born singly and in small clusters. This unusual Hoya hails from India and its fine stems lend it to use as a hanging basket specimen, allow it to spill from containers like the 'head' pots as wild looking hair, and it can be used as a groundcover below larger plants that require similar conditions as long as there is ample bright light to keep it growing and healthy. Like most Hoyas, allow the soil to become semi-dry between waterings although this species can tolerate a little more moisture than most. Item# 12294

Billowy, ruffly edged, double, purplish pink, 2-3" wide flowers are produced in early to midspring and are held against a foil of deep green, medium textured foliage with the flowers attracting bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and curious passersby. Hallie Evergreen Azalea is an unusual and uncommon Aromi hybrid that develops into a medium-sized, densely branched shrub. 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. Images courtesy of Maarten Van der Giessen, Van der Giessens Nursery, all rights reserved. Item# 12572

Arching loose spikes of dangling red, orange-red, coral, to pale yellow 1" long tubular flowers, occassionally tipped with a ring of contrasting pale yellow, are born over an extended period in summer on this durable perennial. The flowers of the Hardy Gloxinia, Sinningia sellovii, may be produced nearly year round under warm frost free conditions. This truly hardy Gloxinia is a hummingbird magnet that attracts a variety of bees and butterflies as well! Velvety, rich green, quilted foliage adorns the upright to arching stems of this hardy perennial that grows from a large fuzzy potato-like corm. Provide excellent drainage and moderate amounts of sunlight for the best results, *Note: full sun seems to produce the most continuous display flowers. Mulch in winter to protect the corm from freeze damage. In areas where hard freezes occur, the corms can be dug and stored for replanting in spring or it also makes an easy and low maintenance container plant. Item# 12162

Hanging clusters of small individual flowers are centered by waxy yellow, star-shaped coronas with a creamy white to pink tinged halo and recurving fuzzy corollas are produced during the growing season. Hoya obscura is one of the more vigorous and easier to grow vining waxflowers that is well-suited to hanging basket culture or give it a trellis or other support for its twining vines to climb. The major leaf veins are fairly prominent in this species even from the upperside of the medium green foliage and under cool direct sunlight the foliage can become more olive green and may even take on red tones. To some the flowers have a light fragrance and it may be most noticeable at night or very early in the day. The mother plant was sold to us as Hoya pusilla, and we thank Rachel for pointing this out for us, so if you have purchased that species from us it is H. obscura. Item# 12367

Hanging clusters of fuzzy white to white tinged pink flowers with a pink halo and recurving corollas are produced during the growing season. Hoya pusilla is one of the more vigorous and easier to grow vining waxflowers that is well-suited to hanging basket culture or give it a trellis or other support for its twining vines to climb. The major leaf veins are fairly prominent in this species even from the upperside of the medium green foliage and under cool direct sunlight the foliage can become more olive green. This is also considered to be one of the more cold tolerant species among Hoyas although it still will not tolerate a freeze. To some the flowers have a light fragrance and it may be most noticeable at night or very early in the day. Item# 12349

Award winning flower power! Tall dense spikes of fuchsia to red foxglove flowers with contrasting orange, pale yellow, to cream colored throats that are overlaid with dark flecking and are produced from mid to late spring until fall attracting hummingbirds, bees, and other pollinators. Illumination™ Flame Digiplexis was the first of these now highly popular cross-generic hybrids between the tropical Canary Island Isoplexis (now classified as a Digitalis) and Digitalis purpurea producing a vigorous exceptionally free flowering hybrid. This is a rosette forming perennial with large medium-green quilted foliage that is resistant to rust and other foliar diseases common to typical Foxgloves. These new longer flowering hybrids can be added to the garden and landscape but also make showy container specimens. Illumination™ Flame Digiplexis is considered hardy in zone 8B-10, in colder climates it makes a worthy annual or it can be overwintered in a cool, brightly lit area preferably with direct sunlight. Images courtesy of Ball Horticulture, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12570

The 2-3" wide, white funnel shaped flowers are randomly flecked with pink to red and are produced in late spring. Iveryanum Azalea, a.k.a. Iveryana, is an heirloom dwarf Southern Indica hybrid developing into a 3' high mound of medium to deep green, medium textured, evergreen foliage. It lends itself to bonsai culture but is sure to be a low-maintenance conversation piece in the garden and 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# 12797

The 2-3" wide mainly white flowers have a nicely contrasting deep cherry red blotch and flecks but are occasionally light pink to light lavender and are produced in mid to late spring. Johga Azalea, a sport of Izayoi and sometimes spelled 'Joga', is a dwarf Satsuki evergreen azalea that slowly develops into a 2-3' high mound of deep green medium-texured foliage. It lends itself to bonsai culture but is sure to be a low-maintenance conversation piece in the garden and 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# 12799

The 3 1/2" wide, ruffled, deep red funnel shaped flowers are produced in early to midspring and are somewhat reminiscent of the old favorite Red Ruffles. Katherine Allison Azalea, is an evergreen Dr. Eugene Aromi hybrid named for his granddaughter, having good vigor and with an initially upright habit eventually mounding out to about 4-5' high and wide. Developed in Mobile, Alabaman these were bred for good performance in the heat and humidity of the Southeast. Katherine Allison Azalea can be utilized as an informal hedge, specimen or anywhere else you would use a spring flowering medium-sized evergreen shrub in the garden and 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# 12800

The culmination of years of breeding and selection, the LaNana Cypress was selected for its deep emerald green, fine textured foliage with excellent disease resistance and the trees produce no knees, have excellent vigor potentailly growing 4-6' per year, a naturally conical growth habit, are both salt and alkaline soil tolerant, and are drought resistant once well-established. Dr. Dave Creech of SFA Gardens, Nacogdoches, Texas in cooperation with Dr. Yin Yunlong and the Taxodium Breeding and Improvement Program at Nanjing Botanical Gardens in China have developed and selected this highly improved kneeless Cypress that was bred from controlled crosses of the Montezuma Cypress, Taxodium distichum var. mexicana, and the Bald Cypress, Taxodium distichum var. distichum. LaNana Cypress, a.k.a 'T406', has proven to be the most popular of the resultant clones and has been trialed across much of the southern US. Image credit of Laurence Truett, SFA Gardens via Dr. Dave Creech, all rights reserved. Item# 10697

A rare and unusual succulent, the Lifesaver Cactus produces burgundy and tan star-shaped flowers that look as though a grape lifesaver has been stuck perfectly in their center. This is a low growing to trailing succulent with softly toothed 4-angled thick succulent stems that root into the soil anywhere they are in contact with it making it an easy plant to share. The Lifesaver Cactus makes for an easy and forgiving container plant for a porch, patio, or window and prefers a well-draining cactus-like soil. Grow it in an area that receives high indirect sunlight as it normally grows in the shade of larger desert plants in its native Africa. Allow the soil to become moderately dry between waterings and never keep the soil soggy wet. Item# 489

Up to 1" wide dense double wonderfully fragrant white flowers are produced in abundance throughout the growing season to year round under warm tropical conditions. The Little Duke Sambac Jasmine is an old cultivar with a compact upright to scandent (a.k.a. vine-like) habit and slightly smaller flowers that is a more vigorous prolifically flowering plant than the Grand Duke of Tuscany Jasmine. The dark green elongated to rounded foliage is reminiscent of Grand Duke Supreme Jasmine but Little Duke Jasmine has denser flowers and is expected to be more compact making it a good choice for container culture or bonsai. Provide a full to part sun site in a fertile well-drained acidic soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 12272

Small clusters of 2" long tubular red and orange flowers with a yellow throat emerge from the leaf axils on long peduncles, the stem that supports the flowers, to offer up its nectar reward to hummingbirds and larger butterflies. Under warm tropical conditions Lobelia aguana flowers nearly year round with the heaviest flowering in summer and fall. A shrubby Lobelia with long deep green narrow foliage it quickly matures into a 5'x5' specimen. Lobelia aguana hails from the Mesoamerican Cloud Forests of Central America. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist soil with average or better drainage. Item# 11802

Large clusters of 1" wide starry golden yellow flowers with anthers that age to a contrasting red may be produced throughout the year under warm tropical conditions. The flowers attract bees and butterflies and if pollinated they are followed by 3/4-1" wide helicopter-like samaras. Maiden's Jealousy, Tristellateia australasiae, is a naturally evergreen tropical twining woody climber with rich green foliage and purplish stems on the growth. It can be grown in the ground in areas with mild winters and can also be grown as a container plant where not hardy. Provide a full to mostly sunny site for optimum flowering. Maiden's Jealousy should be fairly tolerant of soil types as it is a component of Mangrove swamps and coastal forests in Tropical Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Australia. Item# 12026

Exceptionally fragrant with a strong spearmint aroma! Malcolm's Whiteleaf Mountainmint, a.k.a. Malcolm's Mint, was selected and introduced by its namesake Dr. Malcolm Vidrine for its strong minty fragrance in lieu of the typical, sometimes camphor-like, fragrance more common to this species. This is a clump forming native perennial with an upright to rounded growth habit reaching about 3' high by flowering. The dainty flowers are pollinated by a variety of smaller pollinators but are especially relished by bees. Easy to grow and deer and pest resistant. Whiteleaf Mountainmint is somewhat drought resistant once well-established. Clusters of tiny, light pink, tubular flowers are encircled by a mass of velvety white, bract-like leaves in mid to late summer. Item# 12627

Small clusters of 2" wide white fragrant flowers open at the end of long slender tubes release their fragrance mainly at night with some fragrance maintained throughout the day as well. Peak flowering is generally in spring and summer with some flowers produced year round under warm tropical conditions. Manacá, Brunfelsia uniflora, is considered to be the most importnat Brunfelsia species used by South American shaman's and medicine men with a wide variety of uses from poison arrows, to 'dream walks', as an aphrodesiac, as well as a medicine to treat a variety of illnesses (we cannot recommend the use of this plant in any form as it can be potentially deadly). This is a naturally evergreen medium to large tropical shrub that may be planted in the garden and landscape where hardy or use it as a container plant that is overwintered indoors elsewhere. Item# 11896

Rich purplish-pink, ruffly edged, nearly 3" wide flowers with a deep red-purple blotch and darker flecking are produced in midspring and are held against a foil of medium to coarse-textured foliage with the flowers attracting bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and curious passersby. Michaele Lux Evergreen Azalea is an unusual and uncommon Aromi hybrid that develops into a small to medium-sized, densely branched shrub. 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. Images courtesy of Maarten Van der Giessen, Van der Giessens Nursery, all rights reserved. Item# 12573