Mystery plants from Cornwall and Wales Trip, 2016
Purple Bell Vine – Rhodochiton atrosanguineus. This vine is native to Mexico and would be an annual vine for us.
It produces interesting purple bell shaped blooms all summer long. It is heat loving, so make sure no late frosts. I have never seen the plants for sale in Arkansas, but it supposedly grows well from seed. It prefers full sun, but a little afternoon shade would work well.
Hebe
is an evergreen shrub native to the southern hemisphere, particularly New Zealand.
Hebe likes more alkaline soils and moderate temperatures. Since they are not fond of hot, humid summers, they would not fare well in our gardens. They are used extensively in Great Britain and in the Pacific Northwest. They come in a wide range of colors
Peacock orchid
is the common name for this summer blooming bulbous plant. In the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall it was labeled Acidanthera bicolor, but some catalogs sell it as Gladiolus callianthus or Gladiolus acidanthera or Gladiolus murielae.
Regardless of the Latin name, they are a beautiful summer flowering bulb.
Native to the mountainous regions of eastern Africa, Acidanthera goes by a wealth of common names, with peacock orchid as the most recognizable. Other common names include sword lily, fragrant gladiolus, peacock gladiolus and Abyssinian gladiolus. Although most often seen listed as a summer-blooming bulb, technically this plant grows and reproduces by corms. Not a lily or an orchid, peacock orchid is a species of gladiolus in the Iridaceae family, although the blooms resemble orchids and not your typical gladiolus flower. The flowers are not only showy, but fragrant as well. In hot climates they would do best in a semi-shaded location. They need a well-drained soil, and ample moisture. They are hardy from zones 7-11
Quinoa (pronounced “keen-wah”)
is a type of edible seed that comes in various colors including black, red, yellow, and white. The plant has been cultivated for about 5000 years and is native to the Andes Mountains of Bolivia, Chile, and Peru.
Quinoa is in the Amaranthaceae family along with garden favorites spinach and beets.
After the seeds are harvested they undergo processing to remove the natural saponins, a bitter-tasting chemical compound coating the exterior that acts as a natural pesticide. Quinoa is usually harvested by hand due to the differing levels of maturity of the seeds even within one plant.