I have gone through three gardening encyclopedias and still can't find a picture that resembles this plant. The stalks carry verbena-like tiny flowers but the leaves are like no verbena I ever saw. I also thought of the butterfly bush or lilac but this is not a bush. My next step is to contact the owner of the house but the property looks like an office building so.... Your help is appreciated. ( photo / image / picture from flosamuels's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from flosamuels's Garden )
I did a quick search for Sea Lavender to see if they could grow down here. Zone 7-9 and one site said this "...thrives on the beach, where it adores the excellent drainage and poor, sandy, or rocky soil... In the home garden, it's a great choice for rock gardens, planting alongside the edge of retaining walls, or tucking into those hot, dry baked spots..." Laura... it might be a great plant for your conditions?
What a gorgeous flower. It's in our database but very little information and no photo....we would love to have your photos there. Limonium perezii
I finally remembered how to do close-ups. This is the bloom with my finger for size reference. Don't think it is sea lavender. ( photo / image / picture from flosamuels's Garden )
I think it is..If you google 'sea lavender flowers' there are plenty of pictures of it,many of them also show the same sorts of leaves as those in your first shot.Its certainly very pretty. It gets used quite a lot on bouquets here in the UK,or certainly a relative does.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt ... I0BEP4dMA0 Sorry for the long address, but the foliage does look the same to me. I love the foliage, though. It was my favorite part of the plant.