Heirloom Plants

It's hard to beat Turk's Cap for sheer flower power! From summer to fall the brilliant red flowers just keep coming. Red Hot, a.k.a. Red Spreader, is a lower growing and more spreading form of Turk's Cap with slightly larger red flowers that was selected by plantsman Greg Grant who also developed Pam Puryear's Pink, and Big Momma. Greg says that Red Hot has a more noticeable lower and spreading habit when grown in full sun. Excellent for Hummingbirds and Butterflies, especially the Sulphurs. Item# 9726.

Thin flat scalloped stems turn deep red to near purple-red when the plants are grown where they receive high light and produce long-lasting decorative white berries along the leaf edges that follow the small inconspicuous flowers. The Red Mistletoe Cactus or Red Rhipsalis, Pseudorhipsalis ramulosa, is an easy to grow vigorous tropical cactus whose weeping stems can create an amazing specimen hanging basket plant. A component of tropical forests with an epiphytic-like growth habit, it naturally receives filtered sunlight and will have the most intense color where it receives high indirect light to cool sunlight, like early morning or very late evening or filtered sunlight. Provide a well-drained soil and average moisture for optimum growth and vigor. Item# 11825

The Red Shrimp Plant produces a continuous display of upright to arching spikes composed of large showy maroon bracts from which the individual maroonish-red and white tubular flowers emerge in spring and summer to year round under warm tropical conditions. This plant has exceptional flower power and makes a beautiful display as a container plant specimen and in mixed container gardens as well as in the garden and landscape. The common Shrimp Plant, Justicia brandegeeana, is a heat loving, naturally evergreen, bushy, tropical plant with dark olive green foliage and grows to about 24" high by about 18" wide. It is both full sun and bright shade tolerant but tends to have the densest branching habit where it receives at least 4 hours or more of direct sunlight. Provide an average to well-drained, moderately fertile, average moist soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Attracts hummingbirds and the occasional larger butterfly and is an RHS Award of Garden Merit winner. Caterpillar host: Cuban Crescent, Texan Crescent, White Peacock, and Malachite. Item# 620

A wonderfully colorful fall suprise, the Red Spider Lily produces neatly rounded clusters of deep red spidery flowers atop sturdy 12-18" high stems in late summer and early fall before the blue-green narrow straplike foliage emerges for winter. The nectar rich flowers attract larger butterflies and the large yellow Sulphur butterflies seem to be especially attracted to them. This heirloom pass-a-long multiplies readily to create a dense clump of offsets that can be divided in summer. Each pot contains 3 medium to large flowering size bulbs that can be planted anytime of year from containers. Work them into garden and landscapes but they can also be allowed to naturalize in the lawn. Item# 9338

A multitude of upward facing, sleepy, scarlet blooms are born among the soft, dark green foliage from late spring to frost. A hardy and long-lived, spreading to upright perennial, Turk's Cap is an easy to grow heirloom that will flower in sun or light shade. An excellent nectar plant for hummingbirds as well as butterflies. Caterpillar host: Glassy Winged Skipper. Resistant to browsing by deer and moderately drought resistant once well-established. The ripe fruits are readily consumed by birds and other wildlife, along with the occasional curious human. Item# 691.

The show starts in early summer and may last nearly until the first frost with this reliable and fragrant Garden Phlox. It produces large domed clusters of bright purplish pink flowers on tall sturdy stems with mildew resistant, deep green foliage. Phlox is adored by butterflies and hummingbirds alike! Robert Poore is one of only a handful of Garden Phlox cultivars recommended for southern gardens by noted Texas plantsman Greg Grant. Item# 10161

Strongly fragrant 1" white star-like blooms in clusters of 3-12 are produced on new growth from spring to fall. The fragrant white waxy flower petals are used to flavor Jasmine tea and Jasmine rice. An evergreen twining climber or arching shrub growing to 8' high if left to its own devices but it can certainly be pruned to keep it in bounds. Grow it as a container plant, as a hedge, an espalier or even as a small tree form. Item#11743

Spikes of deep red upward facing funnel-shaped flowers are produced non-stop from mid to late spring to fall atop the rich glossy deep green foliage attracting hummingbirds, occasional butterflies, and long-tongued bees. San Antonio Red Hummingbird Bush, a selection of Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii, is a small decidous native shrub from South Texas with excellent flower power. This easy and reliable heirloom has an upright to spreading busny habit rarely exceeding 3-4' in height (3'x3' is fairly typical in our zone 8B gardens) and it revels in the heat and sun of summer and is undaunted by the high humidity and high rainfall of the southeastern US. In the northernmost portion of its hardiness range, zones 7A-8A, the Hummingbird Bush may freeze back to near groundlevel in the hardest winters but readily returns to flowering by mid to late spring. Provide a full sun to mostly sunny site in a well-drained, fertile, average moist soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Small and tough enough for container culture but it also makes a low-maintenance addition the garden and landscape. Caterpillar host: Crimson Patch Item# 10034

An easy groundcovering perennial, Selfheal produces dense spikes of contrasting coppery tinged green bracts from which row after row of white tubular flowers with a purple 'hood' emerge. It begins flowering in early to mid spring lasting for several weeks providing nectar to bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. This member of the mint family is easy to establish and requires little care once established in the garden. Use Selfheal as a groundcover, on roadsides, as a component of the meadow, prairie and other naturalistic settings. Selfheal can be used to good effect spilling over walls or even in containers if you feel you need to contain it. Deer, rabbit, and pest resistant. Mainly a winter and spring growing perennial that moves into dormancy after seeds set in summer. Item# 11176

Large, 4-5" wide, fragrant, semi-double flowers of the purist white with wavy petals and a contrasting boss of golden yellow stamens shine like spotlights against the foil of deep green glossy foliage. Flowering begins early in the season in October continuing into December, with a few flowers into early January. Setsugekka Sasanqua Camellia has a vigorous moderately upright habit that rounds out with at maturity. This dense foliage of this large evergreen shrub lend it to use as a specimen, screen, hedge, or even a small evergreen tree form. The Sasanqua Camellias are tolerant of full sun to part sun conditions. Provide an average moist, average to well drained, moderately fertile, acidic soil rich in organic matter and an organic mulch for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 10183

Perfectly formed creamy white tea rose buds open to 3" wide cupped double flowers whose petals may be striped with deep rosy red. Occassionally, flowers may be solid rosy red. Smith's Parish Rose is a found heirloom Bermuda Rose that develops into a rounded 4-5' x 4-5' shrub rose with moderate disease resistance. Well-established plants flower throughout the growing season. Use this easy to grow and conversation starting old garden rose in a mixed border or as part of the landscape. Smith's Parish is small enough to enjoy as a medium sized container plant. Provide a full to mostly sunny position in a moderately fertile soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 11921

White buds open to the classic pure white tea rose form and then flatten at maturity with the heaviest flowering in spring, usually around Easter, with some flowers on mature plants in full sun in summer and occassionally in fall. The white flowers of Sombreiul Climbing Rose create a wonderful contrast with the exceptionally dark green foliage of this easy and disease resistant heirloom rambling rose well-suited to sturdy supports on an arbor or fence. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in a well-drained moderately fertile soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 11920

The large maple-like foliage is broadly edged in bright creamy white and provide a nice backdrop to the orange veined Chinese lantern-like, 2" long flowers. Souvenir de Bonn Variegated Abutilon is a vigorous upright growing Flowering Maple that makes an easy to grow addition to tropical settings or as an indoor plant (this is a type of heirloom Abutilon that was once called a Parlor Maple).  Easily reaches 6-8' high if allowed to.Item# 11318

A climbing sport of the popular found Rose Martha Gonzales, it produces deep red single flowers throughout the growing season. The dark green healthy foliage is accented by dark burgundy new growth. Speedy Gonzales Climbing Rose is another excellent selection and introduction by noted Texas horticulturist and author Greg Grant. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in a moderately fertile soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 11672

The large, palmate, tropical-looking, glossy medium to deep green foliage is heavily overlaid with contrasting white to creamy white variegation including the major veins which are almost solid white. A choice evergreen shrub for shaded sites. Mature plants produce large loose clusters to 18" or more across are composed of 1" to 1-1/2" diameter, ball-shaped white flowers that are produced in fall to winter attracting an amazing number of mainly smaller pollinators and are followed by 1/4" diameter green berries that ripen to black. Spider's Web Fatsia or Japanese Aralia makes an excellent choice for shaded locations and develops into a medium to large, often multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with an initially slow rate of growth that increase to moderate once plants are well-established. Makes a wonderful specimen, informal hedge, or container plant for indoors or out. Provide Fatsia with an average moist, fertile, acidic soil rich in organic matter with average or better drainage. Photos courtesy of TERRA NOVA® Nurseries, Inc., www.terranovanurseries.com, all rights reserved. Item# 12829

Dainty, nectar-rich, late winter to midspring, greenish white flowers are followed by sweet, clear orange, 3/8" diameter berries with a flavor reminiscent of cantaloupe ripen in fall. Like all of our native Hackberry species, the Spiny Hackberry, Celtis pallida or C. ehrenbergiana, is an important host plant for the Hackberry butterflies (American Snout, Cuban Snout, Empress Leilia, Dusky Emperor, Tawny Emperor, Hackberry Emperor, etc...) as well as the Red-Bordered Metalmark. The ripe fruit are devoured by a variety of birds and other wildlife. Human nibblers should be aware that the fruit does contain a large pit. The Spiny or Desert Hackberry develops into a large shrub or small tree that seems to prefer average moist soils but as the name implies it is quite drought tolerant once well-established. Item# 10682

The beautifully mottled, splashed, and flecked yellowish, chartreuse, and deeper green variegated succulent ovate foliage adorns the zig-zagging stems of this upright growing succulent and summer may bring a ring-like cluster of 1" long deep red, bird-shaped flowers that attract hummingbirds and give the plant its common name. The Splish Splash or Mottled Red Bird Cactus is an easy to grow highly decorative form of this heirloom and Florida native plant that has an easy and forgiving disposition creating fantastic, architecturally pleasing specimens. A shrub-like native of tropical forests of southern Florida and as far south as Central America, it makes an easy porch or patio plant where it partial shade to bright shade but can also be enjoyed as an easy indoor plant.  Allow the soil to become somewhat dry between waterings although it can tolerant more moisture when in active growth and less during winter. Item# 12608

The large, rounded to heart-shaped, deep green glossy foliage is deeply cut, with most splits nearing the main vein of the leaf, and individual leaves can easily reach 12-24" or more across. The Split-Leaf Philodendron, not a Philodendron but in fact Monstera deliciosa, is a popular and relatively easy medium to large house or patio plant that is actually a vigorous tropical evergreen vine that can potentially attain heights of 70' in its native habitat but is more commonly maintained as a 3-5'H container plant. It can be trained to any untreated, sturdy wooden support where its adventitious roots will firmly attach the stem to its support. Mature plants may produce male and female flowers, a spadix which is typical of Araceae, but is uncommonly produced under typical cultivation. The Monstera is easy and adaptable but will perform best where it receives bright indirect light and it can even tolerate some cool direct sunlight as well as filtered shade. Provide an average moist, fertile, well-drained soil for optimum vigor. Item# 12707

The large, rounded to heart-shaped, deep green glossy foliage is deeply cut, with most splits nearing the main vein of the leaf, and individual leaves can easily reach 12-24" or more across. The Split-Leaf Philodendron, not a Philodendron but in fact Monstera deliciosa, is a popular and relatively easy medium to large house or patio plant that is actually a vigorous tropical evergreen vine that can potentially attain heights of 70' in its native habitat but is more commonly maintained as a 3-5'H container plant. It can be trained to any untreated, sturdy wooden support where its adventitious roots will firmly attach the stem to its support. Mature plants may produce male and female flowers, a spadix which is typical of Araceae, but is uncommonly produced under typical cultivation. The Monstera is easy and adaptable but will perform best where it receives bright indirect light and it can even tolerate some cool direct sunlight as well as filtered shade. Provide an average moist, fertile, well-drained soil for optimum vigor. Item# 12950

The large, white lined, fragrant red trumpets of St. Joseph's Lily are born atop thick sturdy stems in late spring. This is one of the very best and hardiest Amaryllis for the garden and readily multiplies into a mass of bulbs. A very easy and low maintenance perennial that has long been a staple of Southern gardens. Read more from Greg Grant and SFA Gardens Outreach by clicking the 'More Info...' link below. Here is an insight to its hardiness from this paper "I had to look no further that my Shelby county kinfolks to find that the toughest garden amaryllis of all was also one of the oldest. Hippeastrum x johnsonii, the St. Joseph's lily, is reportedly the first hybrid amaryllis ever produced." - Greg Grant.Item# 11814

The large, white lined, fragrant red trumpets of St. Joseph's Lily are born atop thick sturdy stems in late spring. This is one of the very best and hardiest Amaryllis for the garden and readily multiplies into a mass of bulbs. A very easy and low maintenance perennial that has long been a staple of Southern gardens. Item# 3059.