One of the best parts about designing a new landscape is figuring out which flowers and plants to place around the yard. At Capital Landscape, we most often work with native plants, but every once in a while we stumble upon some plants that are native to other areas outside of Sacramento, and add them to your garden or walkway.
These are not those plants. In fact, these are flowers that are so rare, they are almost extinct. But that doesn’t stop us from appreciating their beauty anyway. The following are some of the most fascinating plants found on earth.
Plants You Can’t Have
- Western Underground Orchid
Currently living in Western Australia, the Western Underground Orchid grows, as the name implies, underground. Its survival is dependent on nearby fungi, and it acts as somewhat of a plant leech – stealing nutrients away from other plants rather than creating its own. This is one of the rarest and most beautiful flowers available, and is unfortunately close to extinction.
- Attenborough’s Pitcher Plant
The only carnivorous plant on the list is the Attenborough’s Pitcher Plant. Shaped like an upside down hollowed out tusk, the pitcher plant lives only on a mountain in the Philippines, and grows a full foot tall (taller than almost every other carnivorous plant). It would be the stuff of nightmares in Honey I Shrunk the Kids, but for now it remains a rare sight in a remote corner of the world.
- Chocolate Cosmos
Dark and mysterious, the Chocolate Cosmos not only has a very rich, reddish dark chocolate appearance – it also smells like chocolate. They exist only in Mexico, and thankfully are protected by law given their rarity. Given the way people react to chocolate, this is a flower that is most certainly worth saving. ((Edit: Looks like a clone of the plant does exist as a seed, but there are no seeds for the original plant.))
- Corpse Flower
On the opposite side of the spectrum is the corpse flower, which smells like death and only blooms once every 10 years. The flower itself is fascinating because of its large size, and while it is one of the least threatened flowers on this list, it is one of the most unusual. This flower is native to the Rainforests of Sumatra. It also shares its name with another flower that is also unusual and also grows in the Rainforests of Sumatra, but is better known as Rafflesia.
- Jade Vine
Distinguishable by its emerald color is the jade vine. Native to the Philippines, the vine doesn’t handle frost well (making it difficult to plant in most areas of the world), which is unfortunate because the green color of the vine would be very popular in the front of a home in Sacramento. With curly flowers and its striking appearance, the jade vine rounds out our list of rare, beautiful plants.
Finding Your Flowers – Filling Your Landscape
You may not be able to add the chocolate cosmos to your yard just yet – and you may not want to add any of the corpse flowers – but there are several beautiful native and non-native plants that you can add to your landscape or garden. Talk to Capital Landscape (916-783-5080) about the way you envision your yard to be, and we’ll see if there are plants that can help you achieve your goal.
