Thunder and Lightning
rouge21_gw(5)July 11, 2013
I do like "Mars Midget" but I was a bit wary of trying the variegated "Thunder and Lightning" as in the nurseries it never seemed to have many blooms. And last year when I planted the two of them they didnt really do much. And so I have been pleasantly surprised at their floriferousness thus far in their second year. As well they are quite compact. There are a few leaves here and there that seem to revert to green but not many so far.
Here is a picture I took today of one of them:
I'm always drawn to variegated foliage and the reddish purple blooms are a nice contrast. What is the zone rating?
It is advertised as hardy to zone 4 (close to your z3; maybe some extra protection might get it through your winter).
What is this, a scabiosa? Beautiful color, and goes great with that gorgeous purple next to it. What is that, some kind of veronica?
Dee
You are correct Dee. It is a Knautia/Scabiosa.
And good pick-up on the Veronica "Royal Candles" barely in the picture
Thanks rouge. What a fantastic color combination - was it on purpose, lol? My best combinations are usually by mistake!
;)
Dee
Of course it was on purpose Dee (I say this as I look down and see I have on mismatched socks!).
This post was edited by rouge21 on Fri, Jul 12, 13 at 19:54
UPDATE:
Here is this same plant almost a year later. It is very large and floriferous:
This post was edited by rouge21 on Tue, Jul 1, 14 at 10:14
So pretty!
As came up before, Rouge, the species, Knautia macedonica, can be a very bad (invasive) seeder, at least in my experience.
I'm assuming that these small cultivars are much more tame.
Looks wonderful. I think I weeded out my Mars Midget. Maybe the variegated foliage would be a good replacement as wouldn't mistake it for a weed.
I deadhead mine regularly to keep it from seeding.
Riuge, what type of soil is it planted in? I've never had any luck overwintreing any scabiosas/knautias. Yours is fabulous.
Pretty. I've gotten a number of them in at the nursery, but have yet to bring one home. Knautia tends to reseed with abandon here, so I am also a bit deterred by that factor, lol.
Do you find yours reseeds much? I suppose it isn't sterile...
How much does it revert? I noticed a lot of plants from one of our suppliers (not the best plants in general) reverted a lot.
CMK
Lol I thought this had to do with the storms we had last night!
I really like this plant...reminds me of my Clifford Moore.
It sure looks bright and happy! Mine hasn't bloomed yet.
AND...it sure has attracted a huge butterfly! :wink wink:
I like this!
I have had two of these plants for 2 years and have seen no seedlings in either year.
The base soil is clay but I have added lots of organic materials.
I am never quite sure of variegation but I am pleased with the many flowers on this plant.
It has definitely gotten bigger. Very pretty plant. Some of the plants I planted last year have tripled in size. What will they look like next year? Kind of scary lol