Peacock Horticultural Nursery Blog

We have had a cool summer for the most part here at Peacock Horticultural Nursery, with foggy mornings and low to mid-seventies in the afternoon.    Not that I am complaining, as lower temperatures mean less watering for me.   The following are  some of the plants that are blooming or bearing fruit this month:

• Asclepias physocarpa (Milkweed) -  Great plant to attract butterflies to your garden.  4-6′ tall with white flowers followed by lime green, balloon-like seed pods.
• Clerodendron bungei ‘Pink Diamond’ (Variegated Glory Bower)  – A beautiful 30″ shrub for part shade in USDA zones 8 – 9.  Blooms 3 - 4  months with fragrant,  pink  flowers.  Foliage is variegated with white and various shades of green.
• Clerodendron trichotomum (Harlequin Glorybower) –  A small suckering tree to about 15′  for sun to part shade in USDA zones 6 – 9.  Flowers are very fragrant and white, and in the fall bear bright blue fruits. 
• Colletia paradoxa, Colletia spinosa, and Colletia ulicina -  Nearly leafless, spiny, South American shrubs with white to pink fragrant flowers in summer.
• Crinodendron hookerianum (Chilean Lantern Tree)  – A 15′ evergreen shrub originally from South America with red flowers.  Grows best in partial shade in USDA zone 8b – 10.  Freezes may damage flowers or young growth. 
• Dianella tasmanica (Tasman Flax Lily)  – A 2-3′ strap-leafed perennial for the shade garden.  Blue flowers are followed by very striking deep blue fruits in summer.
• Eryngium pandanifolium (Giant Sea Holly) – A clump forming perennial for full sun in USDA zone 7 – 9.  The thin, spiny, silver-green leaves are 3′- 4′  and the thistle-like, multi-branched flower stalk can be 8′.   A very impressive plant in bloom!
• Hibiscus x moscheutos ‘Lord Baltimore’ (Rose Mallow) - A hardy 5′ tall perennial with large, red Hibiscus flowers from Summer until the first frost.  Dormant in winter and hardy to USDA Zone 5.
• Musschia wollastonii (Madeira Giant Bellflower) -  A rare monocarpic plant from the Island of Madeira.  Forms a large rosette of green leaves a top a woody trunk up to 3′ – 5′.  Produces a huge, multi-branched, pyramidal display of odd greenish-yellow flowers and then dies. 
• Puya mirabilis- A terrestrial Bromeliad that forms many 2′ rosettes of thin, spiny, grass-like leaves.  Chartreuse flowers are produced on 2-3′ stalks in summer. 
• Roscoea purpurea (Roscoe’s Lily) -A winter dormant perennial for part sun in USDA zones 7b to 9b.   Rich purple flower to 2.5″ in summer. 

Clerodendron bungei 'Pink Diamond'

Clerodendron bungei 'Pink Diamond'

Colletia

Dianella tasmanica

Eryngium pandanifolium

Hibiscus x moscheutos 'Lord Baltimore'

Musschia wollastonii

Musschia wollastonii

Puya mirabilis

Roscoea purpurea

Asclepias physocarpa