With the coming of warmer weather, the courtyard features blue and white Hydrangea macrophylla: mophead and lacecap hydrangeas. Many of our hydrangeas are grown from cuttings taken the previous year.

The violets, deep blues, and whites of the hydrangeas complement the finely-cut silver foliage of Artemisia and the crisp white of Cape primrose (Streptocarpus ‘Massen’s White’). Bromeliad Aechmea fascinata has silver-banded leaves and Guzmania is bright red or yellow. The vase-shaped rosettes formed by the leaves allow the plants to store water. Many mistake the brightly colored leaves of the Guzmania for flowers. The leaves last for several months after the plant has finished flowering. The flowers are actually very small and are almost invisible among the leaves. Bromeliads come from Central and South America.