Mirabilis jalapa (the four o'clock flower or marvel of Peru) is the most commonly grown ornamental species of Mirabilis, and is available in a range of colours. Mirabilis in Latin means wonderful and Jalapa is a town in Mexico. Mirabilis jalapa is said to have been exported from the Peruvian Andes in 1540. The flowers usually open from late afternoon onwards, then producing a strong, sweet-smelling fragrance, hence the first of its common names.
A curious aspect of this plant is that flowers of different colours can be found simultaneously on the same plant. Different colour variation in the flower and different colour flowers in same plant. Additionally, an individual flower can be splashed with different colours. Another interesting point is a colour-changing phenomenon. For example, in the yellow variety, as the plant matures, it can display flowers that gradually change to a dark pink color. Similarly white flowers can change to light violet.
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Clematis is a genus of about 300 species within the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Their garden hybrids have been popular among gardeners beginning with Clematis × jackmanii, a garden standby since 1862; more hybrid cultivars are being produced constantly. They are mainly of Chinese and Japanese origin. Most species are known as clematis in English, while some are also known as traveller's joy a name invented for the sole British native, C. vitalba by the herbalist John Gerard, virgin's bower for C. viticella, old man's beard, applied to several with prominent seedheads, leather flower or vase vine for the North American Clematis viorna. This is Clematis "Lady Betty Balfour".
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Rudbeckia is a plant genus of 23 species in the family Asteraceae. The name of this genus was given by Carolus Linnaeus in honor of his teacher at Uppsala University, Professor Olof Rudbeck the Younger (1660-1740), and his father, Professor Olof Rudbeck the Elder (1630-1702), both of whom were botanists.
The species are commonly called coneflowers and black-eyed-susans; all are native to North America and many species are cultivated in gardens for their showy yellow or gold flower heads.The species are herbaceous, mostly perennial plants (some annual or biennial) growing to 0.5-3 m tall, with simple or branched stems. The leaves are spirally arranged, entire to deeply lobed, 5-25 cm long. The flowers are produced in daisy-like inflorescences, with yellow or orange florets arranged in a prominent, cone-shaped head; "cone-shaped" because the ray florets tend to point out and down as the flower head opens.
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Montbretias belong in the the Iridaceae family of bulbs, the Crocosmias having originated in Southern Africa. Montbretia is a hardy member of the Crocosmia group and is very easy to grow. Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora (Montbretia) is a garden hybrid of C. aurea and C. pottsii, first bred by Victor Lemoine in 1880. The variety illustrated here is ‘His Majesty’.
The orange flowers are trumpet shaped and appear alternately along the stems. The leaves are long and narrow.This is one of the few summer flowers in our garden that make a pretty display and can grow wildly. Some people call this a "wild gladiolus", but the wild gladiolus is pinkish in colour.
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