![]() We have plants for shade, plants for sun, plants for wildlife and a few more just because. There’s no overall theme, just an eclectic mix of perennials that, for one reason or another, we consider well worth growing. Our nursery, situated in the North of Dorset close to the Somerset border, is full of the plants we love. For more on this see the entry on Viola.Īt Dorset Perennials you will find a husband and wife team, Dawn and Martin, who have been plantsmen and nurserymen for nearly 25 years. Some degree of cleistogamy, whereby fertilisation can occur within flowers before they open can be seen in some members of Lamium, Salvia and Ajuga. The flowers of some members of this family, such as Mint have much more regular flowers. When an insect lands on the lower lip, the design is such that the anthers then brush the insects back, leaving pollen for it to take to the next flower. The upper petal fashions a form of hood in which the anthers sit. The consist of 5 petals, fused into a tube with the lower two forming a lip (slit in two) which can be small or quite large. This can be ssem in the extreme in Monarda where the inflorescence takes on some of the characterisctics of a daisy except with fully formed sage like flowers rather than plain ray petals.Įach individual flower is usually zygomorphic – ie with only one plane of symmetry. Hence flowers are often to be found sprouting in clusters along the upper part of the stem. This is where the inflorescence is condensed into the axils of a pair of leaves. The flowers can held terminally or frequently in structures called verticillasters. ![]() As an aside, Thyme contains the highest concentration of Iron, gram for gram, of any vegetable. Significant members of the family for the herb garden are the Sages, Mints, Rosemarys, Thymes, Oreganos and Savouries, and for their perfume Patchouli and Lavender. They have interest both as flavourings for the kitchen and scents for perfumers. They are frequently aromatic, secreting volatile oils from epidermal glands, a characteristic that gives several members great economic importance. They are characterised by young stems that are markedly square in cross section with oppositely paired leaves. with many natives here in the UK, but by far their greatest concentration is around the Mediterranean. The Lamiaceae are of cosmopolitan distribution. Unfortunately, like so many of the old family names that were descriptive rather than a genus derivative, it fell foul of botanical uniformity and became the more correct Lamiaceae. They used to go under the name of the Labiatae, a reference to the lip that so many of the flowers possess. The Lamiaceae is the Mint family, a family that finds great use in the herbaceous border and in the herb garden. Protect if the temperature is likely to drop below -5 oC Lamiaceae Like the true Bergamots (Monarda) they have intensely aromatic foliage, but hold their flowers more in the manner of a Salvia rather than in the terminal heads of Monarda.Ĭultivate in well drained sheltered sites in full sun. When bruised they can give off aniseed, liquorice or mint smells. They were first introduced into this country by Dr E.K.balls and Dr W.Balfour Gourlay from Mexico in 1938 as Brittonastrum mexicanum.Īgastache are closely related to hyssops. May need a mulch in cold winters.Īgastache are the Mexican Bergamots. Won the ‘Too Good to Wait Performer’ 2013 award and ‘Top Performer’ 2014 award at the 2013 Colorado State Perennial Trials, (whatever they are!)įor a warm sunny spot. We’re growing it because an Agastache enthusiast recommended it to me at a show he said it was just great. I am reliably informed it’s great for attracting hummingbirds, but I’m yet to see any here. The deep dusky-purple buds make a tight head, 15cm tall which bursts out down its length with violet-blue salvia-like flowers. It is a stunner with larger spikes of larger flowers than its cousins, produced for up to 4 months of the year. This is a recent introduction form Terra Novao in Oregon, USA. Classification of the Plant Kingdom ( some of it anyway !).They are designed to give you an overview of how different plants are related. Pages arranged along Taxonomic lines Each page covers one Order (the level above Family) and lists all of the Families within that Order and then the contained Genera within that. Or use the big button on the left to go to one page organised pictorially. I've split them into 4 letter based tabs to make browsing easier. Botanical Style Photographs taken against a white background Browse these pages to easily see how different varieties differ from one another.
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