Blooming Friday -- Second Favorite Garden Center (NCBG) Part III

Rather than put up practically the same pictures I put up on Bloomday, I've decided to continue with the Botanical Garden posts and plants that I grew from seed received from the Garden.

Small's beardtongue (Penstemon smallii) is a lovely short-
lived Penstemon that prefers dry half shade. I love it. It's very showy.

One plant can form a very sizeable clump.

Butterfly Weed is a plant that I can only grow from broadcasting the seed. I know it's transplantable when small, but I still haven't had any luck with growing it in pots. So I broadcast the seed (fresh has worked best for me) and it always comes up.

Bees and butterflies love it, and the flowers create such a bright spot in the garden.

Tall skullcap (Scutellaria integrifolia) grows wild here, forming colonies beside the woods and in ditches. I've transplanted some into the garden and enjoy its beautiful lavender-blue flowers in May. The Garden also sometimes sells Heart-Leaf Skullcap (Scutellaria ovata) and Hoary Skullcap (Scutellaria incana).

Scutellaria integrifolia

S. ovata, which has broad fuzzy gray-green leaves, blooms a month later in June.

Scutellaria incana blooms last in mid-summer. This one is tall (for a skullcap -- about 2 feet high) with shiny silvered leaves. It tolerates dry half-shade very well. All of the skullcaps repeat some until winter cold shuts them down.

I first read about pineland hibiscus in the Wasowski's book Gardening with Native Plants of the South, which Sally Wasowski described as having "gorgeous flowers, which range from palest yellow to rich cream with an unusual pleated texture, scalloped edges, and velvety red centers." Who can resist such a description? The flowers more than live up to expectation, by the way. H. aculeatus is a small hibiscus, the only one I have that prefers dry conditions, and while never covered in flowers it throws some blooms all summer and fall. The foliage is unusual too, highly divided and with a wonderful rough texture.

Dotted Horsemint has a certain understated elegance. There's something about the combination of pink and green and the way the flower is put together that really captures the eye. The foliage has a smoky musky fragrance.

Hibiscus coccineus is gorgeous -- a bit tall and gawky, but still gorgeous. Unfortunately its color doesn't agree with the rest of my garden, so it's been relegated to the pond in one of the floodway fields. This hibiscus can grow with its roots under water year round.

American beautyberry has beautiful fruit. It's even a very handsome shrub when pruned every spring, although it often ultimately assumes a rather octopus-like habit by fall. I like it best mingling with other plants.

I got one plant from my packet of aromatic aster seeds (the rest rotted). From that one plant I probably have at least 2 dozen divisions. IMO this is probably the perfect aster: it's low-growing, well-behaved, and a very exuberant late bloomer. True to its name it has sticky foliage that has the sweet scent of pine sap.

I have a swamp sunflower from Niche Gardens, and then this more delicate swamp sunflower from the Botanical Garden. This has much narrow leaves and may prove to have more healthy foliage, although it will have to be in my garden larger than a year to prove that. The flowers really glow and are the ultimate eye-catcher.

Thanks to Katarina at roses and stuff for hosting Blooming Friday.