Sand Verbena

From LoveToKnow Garden

Sand Verbena (Abronia) - Small Californian annuals or perennials of a trailing habit, with blossoms in dense Verbena-like clusters. A. arenaria, a honey-scented perennial, has trailing stems and dense clusters of lemon-colored flowers; A. umbellata, also an annual with succulent trailing stems and clusters of rosy-purple, slightly fragrant flowers; A. fragrans, forming large branching tufts from 1 1/4 to 2 feet, and white flowers which expand late in the afternoon, and then exhale a delicate vanilla-like perfume; A. villosa has violet flowers, and A. Crux Mastae, with scented flowers. A. arenaria and A. umbellata should be planted in rather poor, light and dry soil, on open well-drained borders. The seeds often remain dormant for some time before vegetating; those of A. umbellata germinate readily. Abronias flower in summer and autumn, but are not quite happy in our climate.