HERBACEOUS PERENNIALS, GROUNDCOVERS, & SMALL SHRUBS

Chinese Money Plant is a perfect indoor plant that is famous for its lore of attracting money into your life. It is a highly sought-after houseplant and also known as the missionary plant, lefse plant, pancake plant, UFO plant. Known for its charming beauty and dwarf size, it is a perfect addition to the windowsill garden. The round, shiny, peltate leaves become mounded as the plant matures and give the appearance of large, green coins stacked on top of one another. Its adaptation to low light and succulent leaf structure make it an easy-care plant.

Root Beer Plant, Acuyo, False Kava-Kava. Close relative of Piper methysticum (Kava-Kava), and Piper nigrum (Black Pepper), this herb originated from Tropical America and grows also in the South Pacific. Large-leaved perennial, known for its leaves, which are used for their spicy aromatic scent and flavor, some liken to root beer, others to anise-clove. This species is easily identified by its huge leaves which can grow over a foot long in older specimens. The leaves are chopped and used for flavoring, as well as used whole, as wrappings for meats, tamales, etc. P. auritum is very often confused with Piper methysticum (Kava-Kava), and probably has some similar effects.
See Article about this plant.

Camphor plant - previously called as Ocimum kilimanscharicum. Wonderful scent! Very rare herb great for ground cover, xeriscape or rock garden, needs no care, grows fast, very drought tolerant. Plant it along walkway and enjoy pleasant scent as you walk by or brush on it.

White Cape plumbago, cape leadwort. This is a rare variety, hard to propagate.
Learn more about Plumbago: Sky Blue Plumbago in Southern Landscapes.

Blue Plumbago, Cape Leadwort. Unusual blue color for tropics! Blooms all year round with denser blooms from March to November. Plumbago is popular in both tropical and sub-tropical gardens because of its delicate blue flowers, it is seen often as a low plant used for hedges. It tolerates both drought and poor soil, grows best if it is heavily pruned from time to time, even cut back to the ground.
Learn more about Plumbago: Sky Blue Plumbago in Southern Landscapes.

This is a very rare spectacular species of Plumbago from India. It has bright scarlet red flowers and prefers shade locations. Perfect for shade garden that needs some color, and for container and indoor culture.
Learn more about Plumbago: Sky Blue Plumbago in Southern Landscapes.

Patchouli, Pucha-pat - fragrant herb yielding a volatile oil by distillation. It is used in coarser perfumes and in 'White Rose' and 'Oriental' toilet soaps. Sachets are made of the coarsely-powdered leaves. Often grown in Indian gardens for home use.

Elephant's Food, Elephant Bush, Baby Jade. This interesting plant can be used as an indoor bonsai where sunlight or strong artificial light is sufficiently available. The common names derive from the succulent nature of the plant's leaves and stout trunk. The diameter of the trunk can grow to 9" or more.
In Africa, it is a favorite food for both Elephants and Rhinoceros, and is grown in farms for feeding both animals and people. The foliage when eaten raw, steamed, lightly boiled, or especially stir-fried, is not only delicious but actually very nutritious, containing more beneficial Beta 3 fatty acids than most fish.
Read interesting Article about this plant.

Spectacular bloomer! With foliage resembling an Orchid Cactus (Epiphyllum), Blue Flame is a rare epiphyte from the rainforests of the Amazon jungle. This is a spineless tropical cactus that blooms bright purple flowers. Flowers emerge along the leaf edges from late spring through early summer, and blooms for a couple of weeks. Early springtime flowers are magenta, but summer flowers have the distinctive blue tip on the magenta flower. Mature leaves are about 12" long. Blue Flame prefers a hot, humid environment similar to its jungle habitat. Grow in porous cactus soil or Adenium Mix in partial sun to bright, indirect light.

Shingle plant earned its common name because of the way it climbs. As it grows, it produces aerial roots along its stem that secure it to a vertical surface. Its foliage also tends to grow flat against the support, giving the effect of lush green roof shingles. A climbing houseplant, shingle plant grows and looks best with a porous support on which to ascend. It's relatively slow growing, but can get several feet tall indoors. Eventually, with good care, it becomes a striking floor plant.apex acute with a tiny tubule.
Water shingle plant as the top two or three inches of the potting mix starts to dry to the touch. Take care not to overwater. If it stays wet for extended periods, its root may suffocate and rot.
Shingle plant prefers above-average humidity levels and can suffer if the air is too dry. Boost humidity in its environment by growing it in a large terrarium, over a large pebble tray, near a small humidifier, or grouped together with other houseplants.

Red Rhipsalis. Arched then completely pendant flat tapeworm stems turn deep violet red in high light; tiny flowers followed by ornamental shell berries lining both edges of the ribbon stems most attractively.

Super rare ginger with strawberry pink flowers. The edible flowers have pleasant, spicy fragrance and flavor. This rare specimen plant is from the collection of Mark Hooten. It has bright coral-like flowers, and finally bloomed for us in January 2025. We will be posting more pictures soon.
Species close related to Burbidgea. Riedelia coralina is so rare that published information about this species and photos are extremely hard to find. Most references to it appear in specialized collector circles rather than in widely available horticultural or botanical literature.

Red Ruellia, Flower of Caipora. This is a rare winter blooming tropical ruellia with showy 2 inch wide scarlet flowers. Unusual for a ruellia, this is a vining shrub. Pinching out shoot tips will cause it to throw out lateral stems to form a more bushy plant to 3 feet. But, it also can be trained up a support to grow more vinelike. It blooms on older ripened growth. So give it time, light shade, adequate moisture, and warm temperatures. It sports 5 inch short-petioled elliptic leaves. Native to Bahia, Brazil, where it is found in moist forests.

Firecracker fern, Coral plant. Bright red flowers. Low-growing shrub, distinctive for its long, drooping, usually leafless stems and the almost continuous clusters of small tubular flowers. Each plant produces many branches and is particularly effective when grown in a raised bed or rock garden so that the flower-laden stems hang down. Attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds. Russelia will grow under both moist and dry conditions, but requires full sunlight and occasional pruning to flower well.
See picture of actual plant for sale (1-2013).

Ruda, Herb of Grace, Garden Rue. It is a small evergreen bush with flat bluish-green aromatic leaves and small yellow or greenish flowers that bloom in late summer. Rue fragrance is strong, characteristically aromatic and sweet; it cannot be compared with any other spice. Used in many cultures as medicinal herb.

Snake Plant - Very showy and unusual variety of common . Leaves are tall rounded deep green spikes.

Sansevieria gracilis is very rare and not common n cultivation. It has graceful, tall cylindrical leaves and delightful, intensely sweet scented flowers.

Its enormous blade-shaped leaves of the famous Whale Tail.
Sansevieria is a super easy plant to grow, it will tolerate wide range of conditions, from low to bright light, from drought to wet. Very rewarding plant that is happy no matter where you place it.
See picture of the leaf of mature Sansevieria masoniana plant.

Rare variety of Amorphophallus ralative. Typhonium venosum, probably better known under its synonym Sauromatum venosum, is a common shade-loving house or garden plant from temperate and tropical Africa and Asia. Tuberous perennial with solitary, segmented round leaf and strange, arum-like flower. Collectable!
It grows to around 20 inches tall from an underground corm. A large T. venosum corm can spawn multiple new corms. Inflorescences emerge before their leaves. This plant is also known as the Voodoo Bulb because of its ability to flower from a corm without soil and water. An inflorescence has a purplish-brown-spotted, yellowish spathe and a purplish-brown spadix which emit a strong odor perceived as similar to cow manure, rotting flesh, or a dirty wet dog, depending on who smells the inflorescence. The odor lasts about 2 days, and attracts carrion-feeding insects which can pollinate this plant.
This plant is dormant from Fall through Winter, shipped as tuber, keep on dry side until it grows back its leaves in Spring.

Orchid Cactus, Thanksgiving Cactus, Christmas Cactus, Crab Cactus...
Spectacular, large-flower variety that flowers twice a season, 'New Deal' is a remarkable "Christmas cactus" hybrid, completely lost to the trade today, which is being offered here for the first time after it was originally offered for purchase at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden over 80 years ago. That institution was having a special rare plant sale on the day of the famous presidential election on November 8, 1932, when F.D.R. was historically voted in as the next American president. Not only is New Deal an exceptionally obscure, heirloom cultivar especially easy to grow under average house plant conditions, it reliably produces almost an overabundance of brilliant violet-pink and white flowers which are easily an inch larger than any other variety. The plants we are offering are all 3rd generation vegetative propagation from an original specimen (still alive btw). Its name is identical to President Franklin D. Roosevel main campaign slogan.
You could call Schlumbergera New Deal a long-blooming holiday cactus or a Thanksgiving-to-Easter cactus, since it often flowers first around Thanksgiving and Christmas, then produces a second flush closer to Easter.

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Satin Pothos, Silk Pothos, Silver Philodendron. It is cultivated for satiny dark green juvenile leaves which are heart-shaped with irregular silver spots. Light green foliage is spotted with silvery, reflective variegation. The heart-shaped leaves are velvety to the touch and matte in texture, which has led this plant to have the common names Philodendron Silver and Satin Pothos (though botanically it is neither Philodendron nor Pothos). Eventually, its vines grow quite long, making Scinapsus pictus a great choice for hanging planters.

Upright green foliage shooting out flowers with purple petals and white brush strokes and a yellow center. Beautiful color to add to your landscape. This beautiful perennial is a terrestrial growing, primary orchid hybrid. The tropical ground orchid hybrid requires warm hot temperatures and a location in full sun or partial shade. During the growth season roots should be kept moist, but not wet, whilst waterings should be restricted during the winter rest.
See video about Ground Orchids.

This Spathoglottis is gorgeous. The flower buds come in a range of warm colors, yellow, red, orange and brown in a tie dye like effect. Once the flowers open up, bright yellow sits on all the petals and sepals, outlined in pinkish red. These gorgeous flowers bloom off of a tall inflorescence and stick around for a long period of time, blooming frequently one after the other Spring through Autumn.
See video about Ground Orchids.

This variety is the true wild form and not a man made cultivar. One of the great things about it is it is easier to grow and less finicky. It is the mother of all cultivars.
Spathoglottis plicata is the most popular terrestrial (ground dwelling) orchid. Softly textured, pleated leaves to 3Ft long emerge in February from egg-shaped pseudobulbs about 2" in diameter. Flowers open a few at a time at the top of the stem and each stem can last for months. In Sri Lanka to the Pacific Islands it blooms throughout the year. S. plicata was among the first plants to recolonize the land around Mt. Krakatoa after this mighty volcano exploded in 1883 and decimated the Indonesian island of Krakatau.
See video about Ground Orchids.