Nothing smells quite as sweet as a mass planting of Heliotrope, and with Mini Marine, you get all that heavenly vanilla aroma on neat, compact plants just 8 to 10 inches tall! The perfect summer plant outdoors and winter plant indoors, it offers fragrance like no other!

The old folks called this plant Cherry Pie, and once you smell the deep violet blooms, you'll know why. The flowers arise in big clusters 8 to 12 inches wide, sitting atop bright green leaves with an oval shape and rough texture. Deer avoid the plant because of the scent, but butterflies are drawn like magnets!

Mini Marine is grown as an annual, but it's really a tropical, which is why you can grow it indoors all winter (or even outdoors in semi-tropical zones 10 and 11). Native to Peru, it adapts quite happily to the heat and humidity of our American summers, asking only for a bit of afternoon shade in warm regions. Great for containers (this dwarf variety reaches only about a foot tall!), it blooms vigorously all summer, attracting butterflies and delighting everyone who beholds it.

This is a dense, bushy little plant, with foliage growing right down to the ground. Perfect for the front of the annual bed, as edging, and in containers of any type, this Heliotrope is a must-have wherever strong color and stronger fragrance are desired!

Mini Marine needs rich, moist soil that never completely dries out. It's best in full sun in the north, and some afternoon shade (or dappled sunlight) farther south and west. Pkt is 100 seeds.