Heliotropium 'Fragrant Delight'

Heliotropium ‘Fragrant Delight’ is a garden artist of a different scent

We’ve been growing Heliotropium for a while, but it is a plant that flies under the radar for a lot of people. It’s a specialist that we bring in to do a specific job, like an electrician or a roofer. In this case, Heliotrope offers its memorable—and surprising—scent of vanilla-tinged cherry pie to a garden bed or arrangement. Of all the cultivars, we like ‘Fragrant Delight’ the best because of its reliable fragrance and textured purple flowers, as well as its ability to deliver the goods in the summer months. To expand past color, add this plant to your display, bench, or project.

If you know the wind patterns of your garden center or public garden, you can entice customers with the welcoming fragrance of warm cherry pie as they approach the site. Alternatively, you can add an aromatic undernote around entrances, walkways, plazas, or other high-traffic areas. In many ways, Heliotrope is a garden icon with serious chops when it comes to heirloom credentials. Victorians and Edwardians used its essence as an ingredient for perfumes. Oldtimers are sure to welcome its appearance, and the new generation will get to experience its unexpected scent for the first time.

Showy ‘Butterfly Red’ was in the running for best plant at Field Day

‘Butterfly Red’ is the deepest red of the Pentas that we sell. It was showy enough to garner a few votes when it appeared at Field Day a few years ago. Since then, we’ve been using this variety in a number of ways. It’s a good specimen plant for creating a stand to serve as a focal point.

Deep red florets with bright white dots create an eye-catching focal point

‘Butterfly Red’ has several dome-like flower clusters made up of star-shaped florets, each with a very white dot in the throat. Between the color and the texture there’s a lot going on so a single plant puts on an interesting show. As the name suggests, it is also a summer-long pollen and nectar producer so there are supporting characters stopping by often as well.

Striking dome-shaped flower heads against a background of broad green leaves

For even more of a good thing we like to use ‘Butterfly Red’ in a mass planting—the eye-catching flower heads dollop a thicket of broad green leaves. This is a deep red and the contrast with the mass of small, clear white dots in the florets makes a striking presentation. Butterfly Pentas is a bit smaller and more compact than other varieties, reaching about 18 to 24 inches tall. Plants grow vertically so space them about 12 to 16 inches apart in a landscape bed.

Pentas ‘Butterfly Red’ is available in the 8-inch pot.

 
Lime green foliage makes bright flowering summer plants pop

If you need some foliage in the popular lime green shade, our Coleus ‘FlameThrower Salsa Verde’ is shipping now in the 4.5-, 6-, and 8-inch pot sizes. This is the green that makes bright flowering plants for summer pop even more. It can be used in sun or shade.

We like the sharp, narrow leaves for adding texture, too. ‘Salsa Verde’ is a convenient, medium plant-anywhere size that can be used in containers and landscape beds with equal ease. It forms an attractive mound, grows about 12–18 inches tall and trails out from there.

Sharp, narrow leaves add texture in sun or shade