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Native to the sandhills of the southeastern United States, soft greeneyes is a perfect plant for the chocolate garden. With a mound of hairy basal leaves, the flowering stems grow to approximately 1 foot tall and are topped by a single
yellow daisy-like flower midsummer through frost. The centers of the flower are a light, chartreuse green, giving the plant its common name. Soft greeneyes grows best in well-drained garden soil in full sun and is hardy to zone 7. The flowers have a delicious scent of chocolate, and the plant makes a charming addition to a fragrant garden. Another species,
Berlandiera lyrata, also native to the Southeast, also has chocolate-scented flowers. Its growth habit is a little more lax, and the flower stems are longer. We grow both species in the National Herb Garden in Washington, D.C.
B. pumila has been hardy for the past two winters with no problem. We keep
B. lyrata in the coldframe because we are worried about its hardiness, but for no good reason.
–
James Adams, Curator of the National Herb Garden, Promising
Plants Presentation, 2002
 Berlandiera pumila
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Text and images © 2004 The Herb Society of America
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