PLANT OF THE MOMENT-GAURA LINDHEIMERI 'CORRIE'S GOLD'

I had another serendipitous introduction to a 'plant of the moment' today.   I was walking back into the garden shop after helping out a customer in the greenhouses and happened upon my cohort Becky writing up an order for a customer.  In her hand she was holding a very lovely, strong and healthy plant with yellow margins.  It really caught my eye.  I looked at the tag because I wasn't quite sure what it was and found that it was a 'new' gaura that John had brought into the greenhouses this spring.  

Gaura has a long, long list of things going for it.  Its roots form a taproot much like a carrot, and reaches down into the ground in search of water and so it is one of the best drought tolerant plants for the south.  Its also heat and humidity tolerant.  It comes in a wide range of heights, from 12" to 6-7' tall.  You will find gaura on lists of plants that deer don't usually like to graze.  Its for full sun  and it blooms all season.

Its not the most showy plant though.  Wispy in form with flowers held high above the foliage on long, thin stems that cascade downward.  The flowers are usually varying degrees of pink, white or a combination of both.  As well as the regular green foliage we also have some with a very deep maroon foliage.

The creamy yellow margins of Corrie's Gold' really caught my eye.  Corrie's flowers are pure white, and she is short, topping out at 18".   I think she is as lovely as she can be and for this reason she is my 'Plant of the Moment'.

Purple Dahlias-Pick a Size...Any Size

We have been carrying the Bishop Series of purple foliage dahlias for a couple of years now. Their foliage makes them striking in or out of bloom and they perform well in a mixed perennial border where their color brings versatility and in pots where they can make a stunning focal point.

They are tall though topping out at about four feet if grown in part sun where they will stretch a bit to get more sun and in full sun usually they grow to a height of 3 to 3 1/2' so they are strictly a back of the border perennial.

Bishop of Llandaff

This year John has added two more purple foliage collections to our repertoire.

The 'Mystic' series could be planted mid-border where it will grow 18-24" tall and wide.

Mystic Desire

Mystic Spirit

Mystic Illusion

Mystic Dreamer

Last but not least is the "Dark Angel' series. This one is compact and would be great in the front of a perennial border. Being only 12" high it would also be great front and center in a potted garden making a gorgeous focal point for a mixed planting. I have to admit I love the names which seem to be based upon 'dark' movie heroines. Go ladies go ladies.

Dracula

Dragon Ball

Pretty Woman

Pulp Fiction

Taxi Driver

All these dahlias will do well in a mixed border or in a potted arrangement. They will be perennial here in our zone but will be slower to show up in a perennial border. Usually by mid-summer they will be up and blooming and will continue to bloom until fall.  They are invaluable as a foliage plant and simply irresistible when blooming.

ALLEY AT WORK

In spite of the rain we had no lack of customers today at Big Bloomers. One of them left a wrought iron window box with coco liner in the front of our garden shop. We always hesitate to move anything customers bring into the front of the garden shop to purchase especially since people have been known to spend all day back in the greenhouses so this particular coco lined window box sat there for most of the day. After running like a banshee in the rain from our side greenhouses into the garden shop, Alley decided this particular coco lined window box would be a wonderful way to take a nap..I mean would be a great vantage point to keep an eye on things.

She was very well pleased that she still had room to "grow" in this new spot.

Peggy picked out some lovely new clematis to add to our collection this spring.  She was particularly excited about the three new evergreen varieties she brought in.

These first two are Clematis armandii.  These two are not a delicate twining vine but rather a bulky, sprawling thing that can take over a trellis and are quite beautiful whether in or out of bloom.  They are also very useful planted to grow up the trunk and into the branches (up to 20' high) of trees since they also prefer light shade here in the south.  The leaves are long, leathery and glossy.  The fragrant flowers are born in clusters at the end of branches from March into April.

Clematis armandii 'Snowdrift'

Clematis armandii 'Apple Blossom'

Clematis x cartmanii 'Joe' has finely cut leathery leaves and flowers also born in clusters in March into April.  Its quite lovely and from what I have seen, bloom even when the vine is quite small.  All of ours are blooming right now.  I have seen this one planted and groomed to cover a small trellis and also spilling out of a pot.  The 'Joe' below has been growing in this pot for about 8 years.  This one will also do better in morning sun

JULIE'S BLUE FEET

This is my BFF Julie. She works at Big Bloomers on the weekends and during the summer months.

She is as lovely a woman as you will ever meet.....and she has blue feet.

LESPEDEZA THUNBERGII 'SPRING GROVE'

I've grown Lespedeza thunbergii 'Gibralter' for about four years now. I planted them after they were pointed out to me by a former employee who was a wealth of information and had grown them herself for a couple of years. I must have planted them in my first year or so here since I remember I did not amend the soil at all when I planted them so they were planted in pretty much straight sand.

This is another very easy perennial to grow in your landscape. I would probably not put them in a garden because they are a sprawling plant and large in stature (usually 6' by 6'), but in a corner of a garden one might be quite lovely. I planted mine in sort of a hedge row and have been pleased with the results. As I said they are growing quite nicely in my sand so they don't need a fertile soil though they do prefer a well-drained one. They are also drought tolerant once they are established.

Lespedeza dies back to the ground like a true perennial every winter but comes up fast once it gets started. Then the waiting begins and doesn't end until September when the above picture was taken. They have such nice, lush foliage and the bloom is really spectacular when they do bloom that I have always considered them "worth the wait".

Lespedeza thunbergii 'Spring Grove' wants to do it all and blooms in spring and again in fall. That is its claim to fame as well as the fact that its flowers are darker, more of a purple than the pink Gibraltar. Lespedeza thunbergii 'Spring Grove' is actually touted to be "the best of the purple flowering cultivars".

Right now I am thinking of where in my landscape I can plant a nice hedge row of them.

ALMOST READY FOR SPRING

We are just about ready for spring. We've received most of our large shipments of cement, ceramic pottery and all the other spring treasures that our co-owner Gail has personally picked out to delight our customers. We all got very excited breaking down the pallets of ceramic pottery. The colors, sizes, shapes and styles all had us breathless, well that and the amount of blood, sweat and tears it took to unpack, move, price and shelf over 10 pallets of beautiful ceramic pottery. Gail has also brought in another shipment of "River Root" whimsical outdoor furniture and a nice array of indoor and outdoor fountains. Stop on by and see what is new in our garden shop and check out the greenhouses for perennials that you can plant now.