LAVENDER

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

FAIRY WINGS LAVENDER

The 'Fairy Wings' collection of lavenders (Lavandula hybrids) has been bred in Australia for their compact habits, highly fragrant foliage and free flowering traits. Easy to care for, dry tolerant with outstanding performance under Australian conditions. The striking purple coloured flowers are set just above the fragrant foliage making it a stunning and ideal choice for containers, gardens and courtyards/decks. They can be equally stunning planted en masse to make a colour statement. The hybrid illustrated is Lavandula 'Spellbound'.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

LAVENDER

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

ROSEMARY

Rosmarinus officinalis, commonly known as rosemary, is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae, which includes many other herbs. The name "rosemary" derives from the Latin for "dew" (ros) and "sea" (marinus), or "dew of the sea". The plant is also sometimes called anthos, from the ancient Greek word ἄνθος, meaning "flower". The plant has a fibrous root system.

Rosemary is an aromatic evergreen shrub that has leaves similar to hemlock needles. The leaves are used as a flavouring in foods such as stuffings and roast lamb, pork, chicken and turkey. It is native to temperate climates, but is reasonably hardy in cool climates. It can withstand droughts, surviving a severe lack of water for lengthy periods. Forms range from upright to trailing; the upright forms can reach 1.5 m tall, rarely 2 m. The leaves are evergreen, 2–4 cm long and 2–5 mm broad, green above, and white below, with dense, short, woolly hair.

The plant flowers in spring and summer in temperate climates, but the plants can be in constant bloom in warm climates; flowers are white, pink, purple or deep blue. Rosemary also has a tendency to flower outside its normal flowering season; it has been known to flower as late as early December, and as early as mid-February. Since it is attractive and drought-tolerant, rosemary is used as an ornamental plant in gardens and for xeriscape landscaping, especially in regions of Mediterranean climate. It is considered easy to grow and pest-resistant.

Rosemary can grow quite large and retain attractiveness for many years, can be pruned into formal shapes and low hedges, and has been used for topiary. It is easily grown in pots. The groundcover cultivars spread widely, with a dense and durable texture. Rosemary grows on friable loam soil with good drainage in an open, sunny position. It will not withstand waterlogging and some varieties are susceptible to frost. It grows best in neutral to alkaline conditions (pH 7–7.8) with average fertility. It can be propagated from an existing plant by clipping a shoot (from a soft new growth) 10–15 cm long, stripping a few leaves from the bottom, and planting it directly into soil.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

MINT BUSH

Prostanthera, commonly known as mintbush or mint bush, is a genus of flowering plants of the family Lamiaceae. There are about 90 species within the genus, all of which are endemic to Australia. The word Prostanthera is derived from the Greek for an appendage. Within the flowers are small spur-like appendages on the anthers.

These plants are bushy, evergreen shrubs, usually with strongly aromatic leaves, and 2-lipped, 5-lobed flowers. They are cultivated as ornamentals and for essential oils and spices. All require varying degrees of winter protection in temperate regions, and are usually grown under glass. Prostanthera species are used as food plants by the larvae of hepialid moths of the genus Aenetus including A. eximia and A. ligniveren.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

FRENCH LAVENDER

Lavandula stoechas (French lavender, Spanish lavender, or topped lavender) is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, occurring naturally in Mediterranean countries. It is an evergreen shrub, usually growing to 30–100 cm tall and occasionally up to 2 m high in the subspecies luisieri.

The leaves are 1–4 cm long, greyish and tomentose. The flowers, which appear in late spring and early summer, are pink to purple, produced on spikes 2 cm long at the top of slender, leafless stems 10–30 cm long; each flower is subtended by a bract 4–8 mm long. At the top of the spike are a number of much larger, sterile bracts (no flowers between them), 10–50 mm long and bright lavender purple (rarely white).

This species is more fragile than common English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), as it is less winter hardy; but harsher and more resinous in its oils. Like other lavenders, it is associated with hot, dry, sunny conditions in alkaline soils. However, it tolerates a range of situations, though it may be short-lived. Selected forms are grown as ornamental plants. The cultivar 'Willow Vale' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

SALVIA 'AZTEC BLUE'

Salvia sinaloensis ‘Aztec Blue’ in the family Lamiaceae is a native of Mexico and originates in the country's province of Sinaloa. It is a delightful little plant which will grow and spread slowly via underground runners to form an attractive ground cover which is non-invasive.

The exceptional flower colour of this variety of salvia needs to be seen to be believed. The intense and vibrant blue is as close to a true blue that you will ever find in the plant kingdom. Its charm does not end there, however, as the foliage too offers ornamental value to the garden designer. As young leaves emerge they a delightful plum colour slowly changing to an olive green as they age but always retaining a bronze tinge providing the plant is in full sun. When planted in light shade greener foliage results.

For best results, flowering and foliage colour, choose a sunny site in free draining soil. A herbaceous perennial in cooler climates but generally foliage will remain year round and can be trimmed by half during winter months. An application of slow release fertiliser in spring is recommended. Removing spent flower stems will encourage further flowering.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

BLUE SAGE

Salvia guaranitica (Anise-scented sage, Hummingbird sage, blue sage) in the Lamiaceae family is a species of Salvia native to a wide area of South America, including Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina. It is a perennial subshrub growing 1.2 to 1.5 m tall, spreading into a large patch through its spreading roots. The leaves are ovate, 4 cm long and nearly as wide, with a fresh mint green colour, and an anise scent when crushed. The inflorescences are up to 25 cm long with flowers in various shades of blue, including an uncommonly true blue. In cold regions, flowering begins in mid summer and continues until frost.

Salvia guaranitica is a popular ornamental plant in mild areas. It grows in either full or three quarter sunlight, in well drained soil. Numerous cultivars have been selected, including 'Argentine Skies' (pale blue flowers), 'Black and Blue' (very dark violet blue calyx), 'Blue Ensign' (large blue flowers), and 'Purple Splendor' (Light purple flowers). The cultivar 'Blue Enigma', with pure blue flowers, has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme,

and also part of the Friday Greens meme.

FLOWERING ROSEMARY

Rosmarinus officinalis, commonly known as rosemary, is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae, which includes many other herbs. The name "rosemary" derives from the Latin for "dew" (ros) and "sea" (marinus), or "dew of the sea". The plant is also sometimes called anthos, from the ancient Greek word ἄνθος, meaning "flower". Rosemary has a fibrous root system.

This post is part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme.

ROSEMARY

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) in flower.

This post is part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme.

FRENCH LAVENDER

Lavandula (common name lavender) is a genus of 39 known species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to the Old World and is found from Cape Verde and the Canary Islands, southern Europe across to northern and eastern Africa, the Mediterranean, southwest Asia to southeast India. Many members of the genus are cultivated extensively in temperate climates as ornamental plants for garden and landscape use, for use as culinary herbs, and also commercially for the extraction of essential oils. The most widely cultivated species, Lavandula angustifolia, is often referred to as lavender, and there is a colour named for the shade of the flowers of this species.

With its lovely scent, great looks and many uses, French Lavender (Lavandula stoechas) is one of the best lavenders to grow in the more humid regions of eastern Australia. It is ideal for garden beds and pots and can flower year round. Once established it is also very drought tolerant. French Lavender needs a sunny position. When grown in too much shade it will stretch towards the light. A well drained neutral to slightly alkaline soil or potting mix is best.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

SHADY SPOT

A beautiful path in the Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens. The Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne are internationally renowned botanical gardens located near the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on the south bank of the Yarra River.

The tree in the foreground is the "Puriri" tree from New Zealand (Vitex lucens in the Lamiaceae family).

This post is part of the Scenic Weekends meme,
and also part of the Shadow Shot Sunday meme.

PENNYROYAL

Mentha pulegium, commonly (European) pennyroyal, also called squaw mint, mosquito plant and pudding grass, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae native to Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Crushed pennyroyal leaves exhibit a very strong fragrance similar to spearmint. Pennyroyal is a traditional culinary herb, folk remedy, and abortifacient. The essential oil of pennyroyal is used in aromatherapy, and is also high in pulegone, a highly toxic volatile organic compound affecting liver and uterine function.

Pennyroyal was commonly used as a cooking herb by the Greeks and Romans. The ancient Greeks often flavoured their wine with pennyroyal. A large number of the recipes in the Roman cookbook of Apicius call for the use of pennyroyal, often along with such herbs as lovage, oregano and coriander. Although it was commonly used for cooking in the Middle Ages, it gradually fell out of use as a culinary herb and is seldom used as such today. The fresh or dried leaves of the plant were used to flavour pudding.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

SALVIA FARINACEA

Salvia farinacea (Mealy sage, Mealycup sage) is a herbaceous perennial native to Mexico and parts of the United States including Texas. Violet-blue spikes rest on a compact plant of typically narrow salvia-like leaves; however, the shiny leaves are what set this species apart from most other Salvia, which bear velvety-dull leaves.

This perennial forms a shrubby upright clump 60 cm tall by 30 cm wide, with white mealy stems and glossy green leaves. It bears deep, lavender-blue flowers on tall spikes from early summer to frost. Salvias are some of the showiest plants for containers, annual borders, and mixed borders. Butterflies (such as this Cabbage White, Pieris rapae) and hummingbirds love them.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

LEONOTIS SEED CASES

Leonotis leonurus, also known as lion's tail and wild dagga, is a plant species in the Lamiaceae (mint) family. The plant is a broadleaf evergreen large shrub native to South Africa and southern Africa, where it is very common. It is known for its medicinal and mild psychoactive properties. The main psychoactive component of Leonotis leonurus is leonurine. This is the empty seed case shown below. See the flowers here.

This post is part of the I Heart Macros meme.

BLUE SAGE

Salvia officinalis 'Purpurascens' or purple sage, is a useful and beautiful addition to the home garden. Cooks and gardeners alike are indebted to this evergreen perennial for the unique, pungent flavour and aroma that its gray-green leaves produce. This cultivar has leaves suffused with steely-gray purple.

It forms a 40-50 cm tall bush with woody stems that may be trimmed back to newly emerging growth or strong stems in spring. In early to mid-summer, it sends up lavender-purple flower spikes; it has both ornamental and culinary qualities in an herb garden. It tolerates alkaline soils, but cannot survive wet winter conditions.

Salvias are some of the showiest plants for containers, annual borders, and mixed borders. Butterflies, bees and hummingbirds love them. Provide moist but well-drained soil in full sun. The plant tolerates alkaline soil.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

FLOWERING BASIL

Basil, or Sweet Basil, is a common name for the culinary herb Ocimum basilicum, of the family Lamiaceae (mints), sometimes known as Saint Joseph's Wort in some English-speaking countries.

Basil, originally from India, but thoroughly familiar to Theophrastus and Dioscorides, is a half-hardy annual plant, best known as a culinary herb prominently featured in Italian cuisine, and also plays a major role in the cuisine of Taiwan and the Southeast Asian cuisines of Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Depending on the species and cultivar, the leaves may taste somewhat like anise, with a strong, pungent, often sweet smell.

There are many varieties of Ocimum basilicum, as well as several related species or species hybrids also called basil. The type used in Italian food is typically called sweet basil, as opposed to Thai basil (O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora), lemon basil (O. × citriodorum) and holy basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum), which are used in Asia. While most common varieties of basil are treated as annuals, some are perennial in warm, tropical climates, including holy basil and a cultivar known as 'African Blue'.

Basil is originally native to India and other tropical regions of Asia, having been cultivated there for more than 5,000 years.

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme.