Crazy Plant

 

I found this at a nursery in Berkeley that got it from one of my favorite places Annies Annuals. It's like a tomato plant with purple flowers and bright orange spikes. It's called a Solanum pyracanthum. Here's the info from Annies annuals website.

"Cool and scary! This eye-opening specimen plant from Madagascar is a member of the tomato family. It grows 3’-5’ tall with pretty, actually, blue-green leaves that have prominent orange spines down the mid ribs. The stems are covered with orange fuzz. Lavender flowers are borne in a cluster. It’s a tropical guy, and so unforgettable, it’s worth protecting during the winter. Full Sun, DEER RESISTANT, Perennial, USDA zones 9-11"

Cape Honeysuckle

Here it is December, and the Cape Honeysuckle I bought this year is blooming! It's doing pretty well, but needs to be repotted since it's still in the 1 gallon container I bought it in, and it needed to be watered every day.

Shrimp Plant

I bought this shrimp plant in July and it was doing well until it got a little chilly then it started getting a little leggy. I read that it's range is zone 9-10 but in the colder end of it's range will die back at a hard freeze and then come back... I've decided to try bringing it indoors for the winter...we'll see if that's too dry an environment for it.

 

October

Ipomoea batatas ‘Blackie’

Ipomoea batatas ‘Blackie’ I bought this plant last year, and it mostly died back last winter when we had an especially hard frost, but one little 3" tall vine held on and came back with a vengence in the late spring. This photo was taken this fall when the lower temperatures make the foliage lighten. In the spring and summer, the foliage is dark, dark purple, except for new growth which is a bright lime green, and in late summer it flowers with deep purple flowers

I have this in a pot with four other plants that are purple in some way, and am looking for a nice yellow or purple pot to re-pot them into. The inexpensive faux-terracotta is just clashing with the beautiful purples.

 

 

 

Bat Face Plant

I bought this Bat Face Cuphea (Cuphea llavea) in July, from Orchard Nursery in Lafayette, CA and planted it in a half wine barrel along with some other plants. The tag says it will grow to 18" tall, but really it just trails over the side of the barrel in a beautiful cascade of red and purple flowers. I've seen quite a few hummingbirds hanging out by this plant. It supposedly does great in the heat, and is also drought tolerant, but it requires excellent drainage. This perennial is also supposedly frost hardy in the upper 20's and root hardy in the lower 20's. I'll be leaving this out all winter in the wine barrel that has a southern exposure to see if it's true...