Regional Picks: Focal-Point Plants – California

1. La Palma Echium

Name:Echium gentianoides

USDA hardiness zones:9 to 10

Size:5 foot tall and 3 to 4 feet wide

Conditions : Full sunshine ; miserable to average , well - drained soil

This elusive echium is worth the hunt . It ’s tough , drouth tolerant , and such a attractor for bees that you might need a beekeeper ’s cause . Unlike the two most popular species ( E. wildpretiiandE. candicans ) , this echium is n’t closely as big or belligerent . It features the most vivid naughty peak , made more prominent by shining cerise flower stems . wretched filth seems to convey on more intense blossoming .

2. ‘Irene Nuss’ Begonia

Name:Begonia‘Irene Nuss’

Zones:10 to 11

Size:3 to 4 feet magniloquent and 2 to 3 foot wide

weather condition : Bright shadiness ; fertile , well - drain , slightly acid dirt

‘ Irene Nuss ’ boast stunning glossy , saturnine green folio with attractive wavelike edges . Deep , coppery red backsides and long - blooming clusters of pinkish bloom impart drama to the leaf . This plant is great in a hanging basket or situated in an indoor window . Outdoors , it fit nicely in woodland gardens , plant with fern , small palms , and other tropicals . It can be lop back firmly in wintertime , which encourage Modern growth in spring .

3. Marmalade Bush

Name:Streptosolen jamesonii

Zones:9 to 11

Size:4 foot tall and 6 feet full

experimental condition : Prefers full sun ; mediocre to fertile soil

This sun - loving , virtually - year - long - flower evergreen shrub is aptly named , offering a riotous kitchen range of inch - plus - broad orange - and - amber blossom . It is slow to get established , but in year two , it kicks into gear — and , after that , it ’s unstoppable . This is one of the toughest shrubs I ’ve encountered ; once established , it need little water and is extremely resistant to pesterer and diseases . constitute it where others can enjoy it because it ’s a substantial showstopper .

4. Andean Silver-Leaf Sage

Name:Salvia discolor

Size:4 ft marvelous and 4 to 5 feet wide

precondition : Full to partial Dominicus ; well - drained soil

This unusual and tough salvia flowers most of the year , grow arching atomizer of 1 - inch - long , indigo - black flowers that emerge from underneath hooded , haired silver sepal . The redolent leaves smell curiously like black currant bush , and as with other salvia , it ’s attractive to hummingbirds .

Erle Nickelis a horticulturist at the Grand Lake Ace Garden Center in Oakland , California .

photograph : # 1 , # 2 and # 3 , Erle Nickel ; # 4 , Bill Johnson

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Regional Picks: Focal-Point Plants - Northeast

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