Get to know 15 plants selected from Karonga. Discover their scientific names, identifying features and growing needs.
Coleus amboinicus
A tender, evergreen, trailing perennial to 30cm tall, bearing fleshy, velvety leaves with finely scalloped margins; the foliage is strongly aromatic and can be used as a culinary herb. Grow in a cool or temperate greenhouse or as a housepla
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Saxifraga stolonifera
S. stolonifera is an herbaceous perennial, semi-evergreen under glass, to 30cm, with long, slender red stolons bearing plantlets, rounded hairy dark green leaves to 10cm across, with silvery veins above, reddish beneath; small white flowers
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Symphyotrichum lateriflorum
A clump-forming perennial with upright to arching, hairy stems with spreading branches and lance-shaped dark green leaves. Clusters of daisy-like white or pale lilac flowers, with yellow centres that turn pink once pollinated, are produced
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Ranunculus asiaticus
R. asiaticus is a tuberous perennial with long-stalked, deeply lobed leaves. Branched flowering stems bear one to four single, cup-shaped, red, pink, yellow or white flowers with black centres in late spring and early summer
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Gloriosa superba
A climbing tuberous perennial to 2m, with lance-shaped bright green leaves tipped with tendrils. Flowers 10cm across, with reflexed, wavy-edged scarlet or yellow petals, and prominent stamens
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Urtica dioica
A herbaceous perennial with spreading roots and creeping horizontal stems able to form large, patches of upright stems, to 1.5m tall, with dark green foliage. Leaves and stems are covered in stinging and non-stinging hairs. Cream or brownis
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Campsis radicans
A vigorous self-clinging woody climber growing to 10m, with pinnate leaves and bright orange or red, trumpet-shaped flowers 8cm long, borne in clusters in late summer and autumn
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Coreopsis tinctoria
An upright, fast-growing annual, with lance-shaped leaves, reaching a height of 1m by the end of the season. From summer into early autumn, daisy-like bright yellow flowerheads with red centres are borne on branching stems
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Lobelia erinus
A trailing, tender perennial grown as an annual, with fine, spreading stems, tiny leaves and masses of small flowers from late spring until autumn. In the wild, the species has blue to violet flowers and dark green leaves; in gardens, culti
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Tecoma capensis
T. capensis is an evergreen shrub with self-clinging scrambling stems to 3m or more, with dark green, pinnate leaflets and clusters of bright orange-red flowers with slender curved tubes to 5cm in length, in late summer
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Echinocactus grusonii
A barrel-shaped stem to 50cm in height, with deep ribs bearing yellowish spines and, on mature plants, yellow flowers to 6cm in length
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Hedychium coronarium
An upright perennial growing from rhizomes to a height of up to 3m. Leaves are mid-green, up to 60cm long, lance-shaped and come to a narrow point. The flowers are borne from mid to late summer and are white with yellow marks at their bases
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Phaseolus vulgaris
The wild common bean from which a vast number of edible beans have been bred, including all the 'French' beans. They are annual, twining climbers with green tri-foliate leaves, though many selected varieties are dwarf. The flowers are mostl
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Chlorophytum comosum
A clump-forming evergreen perennial with mid green linear-lance shaped leaves. Racemes of tiny white flowers are borne on long stems, with plantlets forming along the branching flower stems
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Kalanchoe blossfeldiana
K. blossfeldiana is a bushy evergreen succulent perennial to 40cm, with fleshy, ovate leaves, and terminal panicles of tubular red flowers spreading lobes in early spring
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