COMPOSITAE. Showy, tuberous rooted perennials from the mountains of México to Columbia. They range from small epiphytes to gigantic plants 20 feet tall. Easy in most soils. Named varieties are grown from tubers, but many interesting types call be raised from seed, and new forms developed. Start seed as early as February indoors for bloom the same year. When developing new varieties, do not discard weak seedlings as they often produce the best flowers. Garden types germinate in 5 - 10 days; the species come up irregularly, giving sprouts from 10 - 110 days; hold pot several months for stragglers. Light and KNO3 helps. Seed half-life 3 - 6 years or more.
—Dahlia 'Cactus Double Mixed'. (100) DAHL-15C. Packet: $2.50
25 grams: $15.00
100 grams: $45.00
Classic cactus-flowered double dahlia in mixed colors, to 3 - 5 feet or so. Good for cutting. Germinates in 1 - 2 weeks.
—Dahlia 'Collarette Mixed'. (100) DAHL-15D. Packet: $2.50
25 grams: $12.00
100 grams: $35.00
Collarette types in a good range of colors, the flowers with a contrasting inner ring of petals. Dwarf or semi-dwarf to 2 1/2 feet or so. Germinates in 1 - 2 weeks.
—Dahlia variabilis 'Watercolor Mix'. (50) DAHL-15W. Packet: $2.50
25 grams: $19.00
100 grams: $30.00
Beautiful double flowers in shades of soft cream, lemon blushed peach, bright pink, lavender, and soft orange streaked with rose. To 3 feet. Excellent cut flowers and attracts bees and butterflies.
"It is possible to hoe potatoes and to hear the birds sing at the same time, although our teaching has not much developed this completeness in the minds of the people."—L. H. Bailey.
DARLINGTONIA (dar-ling-ton-EE-a)
SARRACENIACEAE. A single species. Best grown in fibrous sphagnum and sand. Likes a cool root.
—Darlingtonia californica. (100) DARL-1. $5.00
'CALIFORNIA PITCHER-PLANT', 'COBRA LILY'. Rosettes of odd yellow-green tubular pitcher-plant-like hollow leaves, hooded and with a forked 'tongue'. Insectivorous hardy perennial to 12 - 18", with nodding, 2 - 4" wide flowers with yellow-green sepals and deep purple-veined petals. California mountains. Zone 6. Sow on peatmoss and keep cool, to germinate in 3 months or so. Prechill helps some lots.
DATURA (da-TOO-ra)
SOLANACEAE. 'ANGEL'S TRUMPETS'. All have large, beautiful trumpet-shaped fragrant flowers. They are the largest and most beautiful easily grown flowers known. Robust bushy annuals and perennials. Give them plenty of sun, space, and a deep, rich soil. The annuals are easy from seed, and the perennials with tuberous roots can be lifted and stored over winter in the North. They are all bold plants, best in the back of the border.
All Daturas are poisonous and produce alarming symptoms if accidentally consumed. Though they are rarely fatal to adults, children should be warned against them. Like many poisons they have been used since pre-history for their valuable medicinal properties against skin diseases, ulcers, insanity, asthma, as a surgical anesthetic, and as an antidote to pufferfish, nerve gas, and organophosphate pesticide poisoning. A remarkable group of plants.
—Datura discolor GA-3. (50) DATU-6G. Packet: $2.50
10 grams: $7.50
25 grams: $10.00
Click for photos »
Primed with GA-3, germinates in 1 - 6 weeks.
'DESERT THORNAPPLE'. White 4 - 6" trumpets flushed purple or indigo in the throat. Upright annual to 4 feet, with greyish foliage and nodding spiny pods. Colorado Desert of California and south. GA-3 primed seed germinates in 1 - 6 weeks.
—Datura inoxia. (50) DATU-9. Packet: $2.50
Click for photos »
—Datura inoxia GA-3. (50) DATU-9G. Packet: $2.50
10 grams: $9.00
50 grams: $30.00
Primed with GA-3, germinates in 2 - 6 weeks.
Large showy white 6 - 8" trumpets with green veins, followed by spiny pods. Spreading perennial to 3 feet, with downy, grey-green leaves. Southwest. Part of the whole inoxia/meteloides/wrightii complex.
—Datura leichhardtii GA-3. (25) DATU-11G. Packet: $2.50
5 grams: $7.50
25 grams: $25.00
Click for photos »
Primed with GA-3, germinates in 3 - 6 weeks..
White 2 - 3" trumpets with 5 lavender spots on the veins in the throat. Hardy annual or short-lived perennial to 1 - 5 feet tall. Round spiny nodding pods. Central and southern México, naturalized in Australia and often called 'Australian Thornapple'. Germinates in 3 - 6 weeks warm.
Datura Metel Varieties:
'HINDU DATURA', 'KALA-DHATURA'. Large 4 - 8" trumpets which range from white to purple, and with double and triple yellow and purple-flowered forms that are sometimes available. Fast growing handsome annual to 3 - 6 feet, with large, dark green leaves and round knobby or spiny pods. India. Best in deep, well manured soil, heat and full sun. Easy from seed, needs warmth to sprout, 20 to 90 days. Start indoors for early bloom. Sometimes can be held over winter in the greenhouse. An important medicinal and religious plant in the Old World, sacred to Buddhists, Taoists, and Hindus.
—Datura Metel 'Mranaha'. (25) DATU-12M. Packet: $2.50
5 grams: $7.50
Click for photo »
Large white trumpets flushed purple, followed by knobby purple pods. Dark purple stems. Originally collected on the island of Unguja, Zanzibar, by the renowned plant collector Richo Cech. Aged seed germinates in 2 - 12 weeks, fresh seed needs GA-3.
—Datura Stramonium True White. (100) DATU-18W. Packet: $2.50
10 grams: $7.50
100 grams: $40.00
—Datura Stramonium True White GA-3. (100) DATU-18WG. Packet: $2.50
10 grams: $10.00
100 grams: $50.00
Click for photo »
Primed with GA-3, germinates readily in 1 - 8 weeks warm.
'JIMSONWEED', 'THORNAPPLE', 'ANGEL'S TRUMPET'. White, upright trumpets to 4" long. Hardy fast-growing annual to 3 - 6 feet, with 4 - 8" leaves. Prickly seedpods. Worldwide. This is the species most commonly grown for medicinal purposes. Used for millennia by witches and herbalists, it is now a major medicinal crop. This is the rarely seen true pure white form described by Linnaeus; most Stramonium offered is lavender.
"Animals may constantly be seen to pause, deliberate, and resolve."—Charles Darwin.
DELONIX (DE-lo-nix)
LEGUMINOSAE. Spectacular African trees with showy orange or scarlet flowers in large clusters. Widely grown for ornament in frost-free regions or in the greenhouse. Fast growing from seed, and transplants easily, even when large. Thrives in good soil and dry regions, seacoasts, etc. Nick and soak seed till swollen, keep warm, to germinate in 1 - 4 weeks. Grow like Caesalpinia or Poinciana.
—Delonix regia. (=Poinciana regia). (10) DELO-1. Packet: $2.50
Click for photo »
'ROYAL POINCIANA, 'FLAMBOYANT', 'PEACOCK FLOWER', 'FLAME TREE'. Famous for its dazzling display of vivid scarlet 3 - 4" wide, 5 petaled flowers in foot-long racemes in summer. Umbrella-crowned tree to 30 - 40 feet high, and spreading 60 feet. Large feathery 2 foot long leaves, and woody 2 foot long pods. Discovered in Madagascar in 1824. Zone 10. Flower color ranges from deep crimson through orange to a rare yellow. Very rare and endangered in its native Madagascar, now safe from extinction through naturalization elsewhere! "Beautiful for the fern-like foliage alone, which gives an airy tropical appearance. Mine are planted in large pots, with Schizanthus 'Angel's Wings' beneath. The Schizanthus resemble tiny phalaenopsis orchids, with fern-green foliage somewhat like the Poinciana. The effect is lush and unbelievable, a good option for those who primarily 'container' garden."—C. Malanowski, South Carolina, 6/2001.
DELPHINIUM (del-FIN-ee-um)
RANUNCULACEAE. 'LARKSPUR'. Showy-flowered annuals, biennials and perennials, most hardy in the North, and valued in the border and wild garden. Best in rich soil and full sun, but are not too particular. Sow annual kinds in early spring, perennials any time from early spring to late August or September, up to 2 months before frost. May germinate best at cool temperatures (50 - 60°F) and darkness, germinating in 1 - 2 weeks or up to a month or two. Some species need up to 13 - 19 weeks cold treatment; sow in fall. Seed half-life 3 - 4 years.
—Delphinium exaltatum. (25) DELP-39. Packet: $2.50
'TALL LARKSPUR'. Blue-purple 1" flowers in long branched spikes in July and August. Hardy perennial to 3 - 6 feet. E. U.S. Zone 4. Sow in fall to germinate in 6 - 10 months.
—Delphinium nudicaule 'Laurin'. (25) DELP-62L. Packet: $5.00
'RED LARKSPUR'. Orange-red trumpet-shaped 1/2" flowers in June and July. Perennial to 16", with 4" leaves. California. Zone 6. Germinates in 2 - 4 weeks.
DESMANTHUS (des-MAN-thus)
LEGUMINOSAE. 'BUNDLE FLOWER'. Mimosa-like perennials or shrubs grown for their attractive feathery pinnate leaves, clustered flowers and usefulness. Hard shelled seed, may need scarification.
—Desmanthus illinoensis. (100) DESA-12. Packet: $2.50
Ounce: $7.50,
Pound: $25.00
'ILLINOIS BUNDLEFLOWER'. Numerous clusters of fluffy, silky white flowers from May to September, followed by persistent, clustered, decorative pods. Feathery bipinnate foliage. Hardy perennial to 3 - 5 feet. Central U.S. prairies. Hardy to Zone 4 or 5. One of the best native range plants, nitrogen fixing, and producing abundant, nutritious hay. Soak seed, nick unswollen, germinates in 1 - 2 weeks.