common heliotrope ~ 10/15/14 ~ Cooper Molera Garden

common heliotrope / cherry pie plant

Heliotropium arborescens (aka Heliotropium peruvianum)

Boraginaceae

Thanks to Nature of a Man, I now have the ID of this fragrant shrub that I've been admiring for years.  Years!  It surprises me that online descriptions say it smells like vanilla or freshly baked cherry pie. Mmm, maybe it has some vanilla notes, but not the fake candle stuff.  I can't say I know from experience what freshly baked cherry pie smells like, and I'm at a loss for words to adequately describe its heavenly scent.  I just know I like it.  I want it for my dream garden.

I double-checked the Cooper Store's index-carded photos, which were made in 1995, and this common heliotrope is not included.  Most of the Garden's plants were apparently installed in 1987-1988 to add to the existing historic roses and fruit trees.  I figure this bush was planted sometime after the cards were made.  My guess is this variety might hail from San Marcos Growers (linked in the scientific name above - they have a good, thorough description) because of its unusually large 6 ft. tall bushy shape.  Most of the common heliotropes I found online are shorter with deep purple flowers and darker leaves.  It's funny how garden plants seem to go in and out of fashion.  I prefer this lighter and airer shrub.  It's a total butterfly, bee, and lazy lepidopterist magnet.

west coast lady ~ 10/01/14 ~ Cooper Molera Garden

west coast lady nectaring on common heliotrope

Vanessa annabella nectaring on Heliotropium arborescens
(Shapiro)

Boraginaceae

I've seen a fair number of west coast ladies this unusually warm coastal summer, but only here in town since I'm rarely out in the field late enough in the afternoon to see these beauties.  When I decided to pursue studying butterflies this year, Andy made a request early on that I be home for dinner if at all possible.  Eating dinner together is important to us, and he used to bring me take-out when I worked late at the office.  The nice thing now is he doesn't mind cooking if I'm too pooped out from a day of hiking.  It may seem old-fashioned, but it works for us.

Usually, I'll spot the west coast ladies swirling-flirting with their more numerous and bossy cousins, the red admirals, around tall west-facing backdrops, be it trees or buildings.  This particular spot in the Cooper Molera Garden is great for seeing all kinds of butterflies because of the south-sided warmth of the surrounding historic buildings and this pleasantly scented garden bush.  The flowers look to me like a cross between heliotropes and fiddlenecks, but the soft leaves and huge bushy shape throw me.  The volunteer-run Cooper Store has several handfuls of index-carded photos of the plants in the garden with their IDs.  The next time I'm in, I'll try to remember to look-up this garden plant.

ps 10/15/14 - Thanks to Ken's comments, I now have an ID and corrected the above.

salt heliotrope ~ 08/04/10 ~ Fort Ord

salt heliotrope
Heliotropium curassavicum
Boraginaceae

posted 08/14/11 - I remember thinking these couldn't possibly be the same species of plant as what I saw 10 days earlier along the shoreline. These are incredibly small and sparse compared to those.

salt heliotrope ~ 07/25/10 ~ Shoreline Park

salt heliotrope
Heliotropium curassavicum
Boraginaceae

I didn't believe our new orchid friend, but he was correct and this belongs to the borage family along with fiddlenecks and forget-me-nots. This heliotrope has several common names, including seaside heliotrope, quail plant, and Chinese pusley. I think the Chinese parsley was misread somewhere and is now also considered a common name.