Organic & Sustainable Landscaping in Houston
Montrose Purple Vitex: Vitex agnus-castus verbenaceae
In the Verbena family, this pest free-sun loving tree goes by many names. Most commonly known as Vitex, this wonderful tree can also be known as Texas lilac, Indian spice, Hemp tree, Pepper tree and Monks pepper tree.
Above is Neon Flash Spirea. Wonderful for bright pink color all summer long. Great for attracting butterflies.
This is a project we just worked on and it includes
a New Orleans theme Courtyard and Butterfly Garden.
In addition to the Butterfly attracting plants, we installed
a natural stone border and a gravel parking area.
These are the before shots of the Courtyard and the Butterfly Garden.
Jatropha integerrima:
Common names are Peregrina or Spicy Jatropha
Family:Euphorbiaceae
Zones: 9-10 (sensitive to frost)
Peregrina is a evergreen shrub or small tree with glossy leaves and clusters of small star shaped bright scarlet flowers.
A native to the West Indies and is especially known for being cultivated in Cuba and Florida.
This wonderful plant has also been discovered to be a great source of Bio fuel. It is being grown and harvested in large capacity throughout many parts of Africa just for this sole purpose.
Peregrina is a spectacular shrub when in bloom, attracting many varieties of Butterflies and Hummingbirds.
Jotropha is a very diverse genus which includes cactus like succulents, herbaceous perennials and woody trees. It can be trained or pruned easily to form a single trunk tree/espalier, or it can be trimmed as a dense flowering shrub. It likes well drained soil and can be drought tolerant.
Please Note:
Keep all parts of this plant out of the mouths of people and pets, for it is extremely toxic if ingested.
Please feel free to write me to ask any questions you might have and I would love to hear your comments on my blog.
All the best,
Portia
What a wonderful day it was.
Thanks to Jennifer McClure and Carla Gwinn at the St. Marks Methodist Church Children’s Development Center, I was able to spend time with two groups of 4 and 5 year old children.
I had the honor to teach & install a Butterfly Garden with 31 children.
We planted a variety of color and butterfly attracting specimens.
The looks on the faces of this bunch of wonderful bright spirits was priceless.
This garden was in honor of Ms. Rose.
Thank you again Jennifer and Carla.
