The catalog are a little slim this year , but they are still full of the Bob Hope and gloriole of spring and summertime . Flowers , vegetable , yield and herbaceous plant bristle forth from the page , each substantially than last year , allegedly unfailing and free - anthesis , involve little or no care and a cracking return on investment . It all blend in to show that gardeners are more affirmative than Detroit Lions or Chicago Cubs fans . They are more affirmative than Californians who live on demerit lines and Buffalonians who intend they can get one more year out of the sometime snowblower . They are , in short , the most optimistic people in the Earth . I am pleased to be one of them .
This class , when gardeners look at plant and seed catalogs , I reckon they will be disposed to go for the good and familiar . After all , even optimists want a common sense of security . It will likely be a streamer year for roses of all variety , with red selling well . The on-going vogue for bungalow flush will probably continue to be strong . In fact , the wildest thing many people will invest in come spring will be a few of the more eccentric coleus cultivars .
With that in mind , I have decided that this year I need to make a conscious effort to pick out at least a few industrial plant that are new to me or new to culture . Fortunately the catalog marketer will never completely desert the novel and different . They are optimists too , fuck that last twelvemonth ’s unknown plant life may be next yr ’s big seller . As the former Diana Vreeland might have said , angelonia may become the raw coleus .
If you are a Southerner , or even paginate through Southern Living magazine from clock time to time , you may have hear of something called “ Shoe - Fly Plant ” . This annual , right lie with as Nicandra physalodes , is a native of Peru , and also goes by “ Apple of Peru ” . This year Select Seeds has a cultivar called ‘ Splash of Cream ’ , that has vary foliation and bright depressed bloom , the latter somewhat remindful of small sunup glory . The flowers of Nicandra close up as the sidereal day get along , so it is helpful to pose the plants in a place where you will see them in the dawn . Apple of Peru is a fairlytall ( 3 - 5 - feet ) sun lover , and so vigorous in the South that it has often scat gardens , gotten customary to life-time on the street , and lower itself to weed status . If ‘ Splash of Cream ’ is like other variegated industrial plant , I suspect it will be a little less dauntless than its patently - leaf first cousin . Such a trait might make it a morsel more neighborly in the average garden .
It would be easy to hold back the Mississippi at rising tide stage than to curb the current Coreopsis vogue . From the looks of the catalog , some breeder in Germany is attempting to take over the horticultural public by inundating it with Coreopsis hybrids . Unable to drown against that tide , I have decided to establish Coreopsis tinctoria ‘ Dwarf Radiata ’ in one of my beds . This species , commonly know as Calliopsis ‘ Tiger Stripe ’ , looks a bit like a small , unrefined Gaillardia daisy , with petals that aregolden yellowon the end and burgundy red towards the drear red centre of the flower . Though unexampled to me , it is an antique mixed bag , first described in 1823 . Like many Coreopsis , it is a front to mid - border plant life , rising to one - metrical foot in acme . The foliage is skunk - like , and the heyday appear repeatedly through the growing season .
Most people have more shade than they think they want , except when summer temperatures reach 90 ° and above . Among the strange Modern shade plants isRoscoea purpurea , a Himalayan indigen . Roscoea grow from a rootstock and has spear - mold leaves . The flowers search , harmonize to the catalogue , like “ small mauve orchid ” , and are produced “ prolifically ” on 16 - 18 - inch stems . The catalog seller advises heavy mulching in the capitulation to protect the rhizomes .
My only concern about Roscoea is that with the exception of a few demesne in New Hampshire and a few more in the Pacific Northwest , no grow zone in theUnited Stateshas a climate that resemble that of the Himalayas . This is what get to it so difficult for ordinary gardeners to turn the fabled blue poppy ( Meconopsis betonicifolia ) . Perhaps Roscoea is more adaptable .
Sandersonia aurantia is also fuck asChristmas Bellsor Chinese Lanterns . Though thisplant has balloon - like orangish flowers , it is not to be bedevil with the more common Chinese lanterns ( Physalis alkekengi ) . The main conflict between the blossoms of the twoplants is that while the common potpourri has closed blossom , Sandersonia blossom are capable on the last , and look more like small orange chefs ’ toque than lantern . turn over the colouration and soma , “ Halloween bell ” might be a better nickname . Sandersonia is rise from a genus Tuber and must be plagiarize in the wintertime . Still , the plant life lay down a bright statement , offer a two - substructure magniloquent respite from the omnipresent garden pastel . The foliage resemble those ofAsiatic lilies , and , depending on where you put it , the works may need hazard .
For a little something different nextspring and summer , be a material optimist and pick a few plant that are fresh to you . you may incur Nicandra physalodes ‘ Splash of Cream ’ seeds or plants and tickweed tinctoria ‘ Dwarf Radiata ’ seeds from Select Seeds , 180 Stickney Hill Road , Union , CT 06076 , tel . ( 860 ) 684 - 9310 , online atwww.selectseeds.com . Order Roscoea purpurea rhizomes and Sandersonia aurantia tubers from Dutch Gardens , P.O. Box 2037 , Lakewood , NJ 08701 , tel . ( 800 ) 818 - 3861 , online at www.dutchgardens.com .
PressHere!Yellow RoseSWORD LILIESCHANGE IN THE GARDENUNFORGETTABLEFRESH VEGGIES
