There was a lot of commentary this week for the Spider Lily and the groundcover. Keep your thoughts and ideas coming!
Hymenocallis, commonly called Spider Lily or Peruvian Daffodil are found in the wild in moist areas, but will do well in average garden soil.
There are about 40 species of Hymenocallis with 2 common in central and southern Arkansas. The name Hymenocallis is from the Greek word hymen, which means membrane, and callos, which means beauty. This name refers to the thin membrane connecting the filaments of the flower.
The white blooms are large and showy on this perennial bulb plant which is a member of the amaryllis family. They have a nice fragrance in the evening. Hymenocallis is native to the New World, and can be found throughout the southern US, into Central America and the Caribbean. It does best in full sun to partial shade. In the northern tier of the state where winter hardiness can be marginal, they can be grown in containers and the pots moved into the garage or protected area for the winter. They can bloom anytime between May and August Several people mentioned how varied the bloom time was between one garden and another, and asked why. My guess would be the amount of moisture and sunlight the site receives.
This evergreen groundcover is a sedum,
as to the particular variety, I have it narrowed down to one of three. Sedum emarginatum, S. makinoi or S. ternatum. I could be wrong about the exact variety but it is definitely a sedum. Sedum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, members of which are commonly known as stonecrops. The genus has been described as containing up to 600 species. The plants vary from annual and creeping herbs to shrubs. Many people guessed Creeping Jenny – Lysimachia nummularia,
but it is not Creeping Jenny. Although the habit and shape are similar, Creeping Jenny does not have thick, fleshy leaves like this sedum.
Creeping Jenny is also not evergreen—it is deciduous during the winter months, and the mystery plant is evergreen. I also ruled out Sedum John Creech because these leaves have a smooth leaf margin, and John Creech has lightly scalloped leaves. Here is a great website to help identify sedums or at least help you narrow your options.
Milletia reticulata -evergreen wisteria
– is a wonderful summer-blooming vine native to China. It is not a true wisteria nor is it invasive like the Chinese wisteria. The common name Evergreen Wisteria comes from the similar growth habits and clusters of purple blooms.
It is in the bean (Fabaceae) family,
as is true wisteria, but this one is better behaved. It grows well in full sun to partial shade and can grow 30 feet, but it is not aggressive and can be pruned to smaller spaces. The vine blooms in mid to late summer and the flowers are fragrant and I think somewhat similar to a grape soda scent.
It is semi-evergreen, losing some foliage in colder winters. It is not reliably hardy in the northern tier of Arkansas.