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texasranger10

fall colors and textures

TexasRanger10
9 years ago

I wanted to share a couple shots of how my urban prairie is coming around, the photos show just two small sections and its still a work in progress because I am doing this on the whole lot except where I am leaving gravel paths.

More than anything, I've been adding grasses, especially Little Bluestem but also allowing the other plants naturalize and adding more color/texture via seeds. I think next fall will look much more like a prairie, many of the grasses are still babies this year. There will also be 3 big Indian Grasses and a 'Red October' Big Bluestem which I ordered from SRG this year along with some more Switch Grasses and several 'Blonde Ambition' Blue Grama and more muhly grasses. I have found a prairie landscape is so much fun.

Comments (39)

  • catkin
    9 years ago

    Total eye candy! Every plant looks interesting!

  • sunnyborders
    9 years ago

    That is very pretty, TR.

    Great work.

  • TexasRanger10
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    A few of the volunteers from the Minn Blue 'Blue Heaven' Little Bluestem have deep green leaves instead of the turquoise coloring of the ones resembling the parent plants. I was going to cull these out but seeing this deep red fall color start to set in is making me think I should group them together. This might just have great possibilities for fall color once they mature especially if they are in a group. I'm imagining I'm conducting grass trials to see how they compare. I also collected some local genotypes that are very tall.

    The bluer ones turn bright purple so they are prettier in summer. Another good feature is the 'Blue Heaven' never flops even in a lot of shade, the leaves are quite low and the blooms stems are very strong but delicate and see-through. Some types tend to flop unless grown very dry and lean.

    Is anyone else growing Little Bluestem? The differences in the varieties sold by SRG from one type to the next is rather dramatic.

  • TexasRanger10
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    These that volunteered this year have the more typical coloring of the 'Blue Heaven'. Its a deep turquoise compared to the powder blue of 'The Blues'. 'The Blues' form very dense seed stalks which will flop from the weight if not grown in lean soil. I've had to relocate them.

    These are just starting to turn shades of purple.

  • TexasRanger10
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    One of the parent plants in a group by the cruddy neighbors fence grown in only 3 hours of morning sun. If you want a bluestem that won't flop in less than perfect conditions, 'Blue Heaven' is the one to choose. The original plants have already bloomed and are starting to go dormant, next year this will be more of a mass planted area of Blue Heaven.

    Sorry about the sideways photo, I've noticed that if I turn the camera to shoot a vertical shot GW won't display it upright for some reason.

  • catkin
    9 years ago

    Love the colors on that grass! It's reminiscent, to me, of Imperata.

    Tex, I have recently heeled in the following (will move to permanent homes in Spring). Do you have any of these?

    Your gardening style is very inspiring, thanks again for sharing your garden and knowledge with us.

    Panicum virgatum *Heavy Metal*
    Bouteloua gracilis *Blond Ambition*
    Carex glauca *Blue Zinger*
    Carex dolichostachya *Kaga Nishiki*
    Miscanthus sinensis *Dixieland*
    Pennisetum alopecuroides *Piglet* and *Hameln*
    Pennisetum orientale *Karley Rose*
    Schizachyrium scoparium *Prairie Blues*
    Acorus gramineus *Oborozuki*

  • TexasRanger10
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    catkin, Do you have any pictures? I have the Blue Zinger, Blonde Ambition, Heavy Metal. and Prairie Blues too. Prairie Blues is new for me and I really like how thin the leaves are. That's Heavy Metal above in the photo, a clump of 3 growing behind that spot I am now filling with 'Blue Heaven' Bluestem. I like the color contrast.

    Here is another area using low clumpers of various kinds. Blue Fescue, Mexican Feather Grass, Blue Grama, Pine Muhly and Gulf Muhly. I am after the effect of massed grasses with just accents of color and texture provided by flowering plants and cactus. I ran across that description while reading and it hit a high note for me. I've been rearranging all summer and I'm still at it.

    The grasses are still not full grown so these areas are still "under construction".

  • TexasRanger10
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I ordered 14 of these Carex 'Prairie Fire' from SRG a couple weeks ago. I love the greenish/orange and think they will go well with the blue cactus. I shot this in half sun/half full shade from the house so the photo is weird. That different "grass" is a tall blue rush because this is where the air conditioner drains so the soil is constantly wet but I think it will look nice once it fills in. On the other side of the courtyard where its drier I have Blue Zinger and I seeded it with Blue Grama.

  • TexasRanger10
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    The 2 Gulf Muhly's and further on down a M. 'Flamingo' are in full swing up front. The Bluestems are all babies so I wait until next year. In the front is Mexican Feather Grass and Pine Muhly. The red flowers are Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii) they are blooming all over the property mainly because they do well everywhere and are so easy to root from cuttings and I'm such a cheap skate.

  • TexasRanger10
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Still immature Sideoats grama. I love this lowly common prairie grass for its early stiff blooms, here its mixed with Autumn Sage, Zexmenia (thank-you wantanamara!), Russian Sage, Desert Spoon, Desert Marigold and a cluster of Shindagger Agaves.

  • catkin
    9 years ago

    No present ability to post pics but once I do, I will no doubt post pics obsessively...working on it...long story! I dearly love it when people post their garden photos.

    All those listed are new for me, too. I've had the old versions of Miscanthus (sinensis gracillimus and *Zebrinus*) for years which DH cuts down with a chainsaw. In the last few, I've graduated to shorter, easier to cut back grassy like plants--which I love better!

    Your grounds look great! Gardening gives such great purpose/promise/hope in that it's always evolving as our knowledge, tastes and ideas do, too!

    I cannot imagine not gardening.

  • Campanula UK Z8
    9 years ago

    Mmmmm, lovely, Tex....and I bet it stays looking good all winter. Salivating over the gulf muhlys....at enormo expense, I actually caved and bought 2 plants from Ebay (after several seed fails). I know grasses are generally toughies, but these are spending the winter in my greenhouse rather than the hurly-burly of the woodland edges......also, I have plans for an iconic Norfolk grassl/sedge and perennial garden on the southern edge of the woods, to be seen from the river ....and I need those pinks (got filipendula rubra on the go too). I always thought of autumn as the gold, bronze and russet season, but the Norfolk marshes are a haze of pinks and violets - hemp agrimony,, valerian, fireweeds, campions.

    I tend to like grasses which vanish as they do not do that austere buff and straw coloured thing (in English winters) but fall over looking a bit rank and slimy....molinia and deschampsias are both good for that. Do you think stipa gigantea would grow for you?

  • arlene_82 (zone 6 OH)
    9 years ago

    Yep, "textural" is a wonderful description of your garden, TexasRanger! I want to touch everything (even the cacti). A neighbor here in Cleveland has managed to grow a prickly pear amongst the cone flowers in their hell strip garden for several years. Always a delight to see (haven't got up the nerve to touch yet) when I walk by.

  • southerngardening24
    9 years ago

    I absolutely love the autumn sage in front of the pink grass! And the cactus! Our little cactus is inside now for the winter. Beautiful garden texas!

  • TexasRanger10
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thank you for the encouraging comments. This whole thing was a leap of faith because its easy to end up with a mess. If people don't understand the intent and direction it could easily be viewed as a neglected property with overgrown grass and weeds because many of the plants are in fact weeds from the roadsides. I think of them as natives, but its all a matter of perspective.

    Camp, initially I was lusting after some exotic grasses like the giant stipa and some Australian grasses to use as specimen plants but as time has gone by I've been leaning toward common natives. I got rid the fountain grasses, miscanthus & other imports I initially bought locally at the garden centers when I first decided to add grasses.

    The problem of shade had me seriously looking at deschampsia this year but I finally decided to use Inland Sea Oats and got some starts & seeds from wantanamara. I included those carex and some Sesleria autumnalis though in some special needs areas.

    My initial mistake was when I planted too many large grasses after getting carried off by the novelty of wanting something new. Can anyone relate? Thats why this year is sort of a start over year, it started with digging out some very large grasses. There is still a lot to cull out and fill in with common ground cover types of native grasses. It will be psychologically easier to remove perennials once they die back and aren't blooming to get the effect I am after. I wouldn't have the heart to do it right now when they look fine and are blooming.

  • peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
    9 years ago

    "Can anyone relate?" Totally, you have your clear vision and are focused. Choices are much easier when we know the look & feel we are going for. Awesome job!
    I have all the prairie grasses you mentioned in your first post, just not the varieties "Blonde Ambition" & "Red October". I have grown S. s. "Prairie Blues" for a few years now, terrific var. "Blue Heaven" sounds like a must have. My favorite Panicum v. is "Shenandoah"

  • peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
    9 years ago

    (" I'm imagining I'm conducting grass trials to see how they compare"). You actually are trialing the seedlings, that is how some come to the market. Careful selections for color, height etc. Sporobolus heterolepis (Prairie dropseed) is one that would fit with your plan I think. I try not to have zone envy -counter productive-but it is tough when I see your muhly grasses. I see your vision completely. My computer is acting up so separate posts were in order.

  • TexasRanger10
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Perne.all, how exciting to meet someone who is also growing prairie grasses. I have a couple of questions. I just purchased the 'Red October' and am wondering how you like it and is it really as red as they say?

    I've only grown the local ecotypes of blue grama and will wait to see on the 'Blonde Ambition' because my regular ones are very ornamental with lots of seeds heads as is. Again, those pictures sold me so am I in for a treat or a disappointment?

    The photo below are 3 mature 'The Blues' which I have relocated. They were planted in deep sand so that makes for easy fast root growth and these became thick heavy masses rather than the classic exclamation marks that is a prairie look. I'm real anxious to see how thee 'Prairie Blues' do in a spot not so sandy.

    Have you checked out Muhlenbergia riverchonii (Seep Muhly)? Its cold hardy to zone 5 and goes to seed a full month and a half sooner than the gulf muhly. I actually like it better because the gulf muhly is sort of sissy looking with the cotton-candy pink and its so late in coming. The seep muhly is a deep musky purple color that turns wheat and the plants are lower growing. High Country Gardens carries it but its native to Oklahoma.

    Plants of the SW sells seed for other muhly grasses:
    Mountain Muhly zone 5
    Bush Muhly zone 6
    Muhlenbergia rigens zone 5
    Ring Muhly zone 5

    If its a matter of temperature rather than too wet I bet you could grow Pine Muhly too although it would go dormant down to the ground.

    I love the dropseed but have run plumb out of space for a mass planting. I have three 4'' pot sized Indian Grass 'Indian Steel' plants that my sister is sounding off the alarm about so I'm planning very carefully where to plant them.

    I may have to break down and buy the Shenandoah, everyone seems to rave about it. Is it really a "wow" red?

    Here are three Little Bluestem 'The Blues" planted about a foot apart in the center of the photo. See what I mean about a mass? Lower and to the right of the photo is the plain jane type of blue grama from local seed.

  • TexasRanger10
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Check out the dramatic differences in these two types of Little Bluestems I shot last year on the same day November 2012.

    The top photo is 'Blue Heaven' Minn blue, the bottom is 'The blues'

  • catkin
    9 years ago

    Waiting to hear about your own new cultivar...*Texas Ranger Blues*! :~)

  • catkin
    9 years ago

    Tex, I ran across a blog written by a guy that's really into grasses, if you're interested. It's obsessiveneuroticgardener.com. He's got a great, funny writing style and shares lots of photos.

  • peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
    9 years ago

    I think you are in for a real treat with the "Red October" and "Blonde Ambition". Sorry for any confusion, said I had NOT grown those two var. I checked them out and will definitely put them on my wish list. S.s "Prairie Blues" will give you the more wispy look you like but your "The Blues" has its own merits. I see what you mean about it being such a mass. Back in a bit.

  • peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
    9 years ago

    I will check with some local gardeners to see if they have any experience with the muhly grasses. Cold is the issue for sure since I am in the northern reaches of 5a. Why the alarm bells on "Indian Steel", seeding? I planted it last fall and like it very much. I research prior to purchasing and saw no seeding issues but sometimes we get nasty surprises. I think you dodged the bullet on Deschampsia,c. I researched it very thoroughly, only one book mentioned that you may get the odd seedling Ha, I had thousands, literally thousands, scratched them out early but wow, may try it in a drier area.

  • peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
    9 years ago

    Yes, P.v. "Shenandoah" really is wow red and shows especially well because not every leaf is red and on some only at the tips, so the contrast is fabulous. Green and red highlighting each other in the most wonderful way. The Sea Oats will look great, just watch for seeding. Any strays can be easily moved. They grow in sun & are super for dry shade where they will be more relaxed but not floppy. Noted in one pic that you are on a corner lot. How do you get any work done? People must be stopping all the time to see your progress lol!

  • TexasRanger10
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Perne.all, I wish I was on a corner lot, but I'm not. That would mean more space but even better, the absence of a Pin Oak tree trying to get taller than the Sears Tower casting shade from the east side.

    My sister planted 3 'Indian Steel' Indian Grass plants from 4" pots a couple years ago in a group about 2ft apart. She liked until it bloomed. Her description was the spikes were so heavy they splayed out in every direction taking down the leaves with them and it looked an ugly mess. She tried to dig them out and had to get a guy to do it for her, they left a huge hole and sounded almost as bad as digging out an established yucca, the guy had to take several breaks and was pretty done it by the time he'd extracted them. The three plants grew huge like miscanthus grass. I expected tall but not like that. I'd just planted my newly purchased 4" pots in various spots and realized I needed to rethink this and make very sure about the chosen spots. I wanted them for the tall spikes to add some vertical interest but not wide horizontal space. She didn't mention anything about self sowing.

    The one that self sows to the point of being a pest for her is Purple Three Awn but I don't have much trouble with it. Also its very pretty for me and hers looks ugly. My point is, different environments affect how grasses perform so maybe the Indian Grass will act differently here. She has very deep, rich Kansas farmland soil and I have the cruddy red clay soil of central Oklahoma with a dump truck layer of sand I had brought in to put on top of it which I amend or not, depending on what I am planting in any given spot. Sometimes I add some top soil in a planting hole.

    Out back I have a corner that is dry shade in summer (sun the rest of the year) where its very difficult to find anything (plants I like that is) to plant back there, its is where I intend to plant the N. Sea Oats. As far as removing strays, I have so many plants that self sow I don't worry about it. I am interested in naturalizing and that doesn't put me out and I actually enjoy weeding, its one of my ways of relaxing and clearing my head. Its also a way of getting free plants.

    The Bluestem in the top photo I posted is 'The Blues'. I devoted that hill to it because the soil stays rather dry and bakes in summer. The sandy soil in front where I had them before makes for easy root growth but it also makes it very easy to dig anything out. Sand makes the whole area hold moisture soak in deep and stays moist for a long time too. I think bluestem needs meaner, stiffer soil to look like its supposed to.

    I have a spot all picked out in my head now for the P. 'Shenadoah' if I remove a Salvia 'Lips" that looks miserable for three months after hot weather hits. It will have late afternoon sun. Next spring I plan to get one and dig that salvia out.

    Catkin, I checked out that guy's blog, it was pretty interesting. My favorite garden blog is The Miserable...

  • TexasRanger10
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Peren.all, just one more note. If you do sow seed of any of the muhly grasses, plant the whole pack in a pot with seeds just barely covered. Out of all those tiny seeds I only get about 6 or 7 plants but thats a good start, they also tend to damp off if overwatered. I sowed a whole pack of ring muhly this summer and ended up with maybe 10 plants from 200 seeds. I also sowed Deergrass three years ago from PoSW seed and ended up with 5 plants. They don't self sow much but I do get a few volunteers. I bought three M. riverchonnii (seep muhly) from HCG and in three years I have had only one volunteer and it came up in a sidewalk crack (typical luck) and there is no moving it now. The others self sow a bit better. I definitely recommend ordering plants for the Seep Muhly.

  • wantonamara Z8 CenTex
    9 years ago

    Funny blog. Your gardens are looking great TxR.

    Muhly seeds go bad so it is good to use them while they are fresh. I have read one account where M . capillaries was seeded during the late fall. I killed all my ring muhley with rich seeding soil and water. Then lost the pack. I felt akin to the blogger. That is me all over. I had an accident with 40 gallons of dirt in my Pontiac Vibe. Well off to move a log in my HUSBANDS van. Wish me luck.

  • TexasRanger10
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    One year I scratched up the surrounding soil and planted a whole slew of the gulf muhly seeds, a gob of them in each shallow hole and quite a few germinated the following spring. It was good because I'd set 3 nursery newly purchased plants in the ground late fall and none survived however, I did get quite a few new plants which are now mature. I haven't done that since and the plants haven't produced a single volunteer from being left on their own to drop seeds. Its kind of the good news and the bad news with muhly's. Definitely not an aggressive grass for those who worry about that.

    A couple of my baby ring muhly's have teeny tiny seed stalks that is if you look real close, this grass is high on the Scale of Adorable Cuteness. I am hoping for a haze of purple catching late afternoon rays about 4" high in future.

  • catkin
    9 years ago

    Tex, I enjoyed that blog--especially his evergreens! The dog is so sweet, thanks!

  • TexasRanger10
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    catkin, if you go back far enough you discover the reason for his name and the story of how he lost and misses his beloved wife. Its a very human & universal experience of grief he relates all through the voice of the dog who is quite funny. Its a very touching blog, the simple direct voice of the dog who is both the observer and the narrator is pure artistic genius. He has such a good personality, it really comes through and the dog becomes such a believable 'person'.

  • peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
    9 years ago

    ("I have a spot all picked out in my head now for the P. 'Shenadoah' if I remove a Salvia 'Lips" that looks miserable for three months after hot weather hits. It will have late afternoon sun. Next spring I plan to get one and dig that salvia out.") - Most Panicum v. can take a degree of shade but "Shenandoah" needs full sun. Thanks for the muhly info Tex & wantanamara

  • Campanula UK Z8
    9 years ago

    mmm, Catkin, Tex, I landed there once but had to rapidly leave as I am still sadly grieving the loss of our beloved collie.....but hey ho, the words 'puppy' and 'new dog' have finally been heard in the campanula household.....am preparing the ground by warning the offspring to expect cut-rate Xmas presents this year as we are saving for our own canine indulgence.

    Yep, panicum Squaw and Warrior have been giving me that all-important purple haze but even so, have been hovering anxiously over my tiny gulf muhlenbergias, ensconced in state in the greenhouse. For some reason, these grasses have never gained much traction in the UK - even Knoll Gardens, the High Church of ornamental grasses only lists 3 (and they are greyish green dullards such as M.rigens).
    Have been revisiting an earlier grass choice - eragrostis....and most particularly, an antidote to those ubiquitous pots of hakone grass we all proudly displayed - the gorgeous eragrostis Totnes Burgundy. Along with spectabilis (again), I am preparing for a feast of pinks and purples to complement Norfolk's late season fireweeds and hemp agrimonies. I would never, in a million years wear pink in my clothing....but in a garden, I am still in My Little Princess mode.......

  • TexasRanger10
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Camp, that is funny. I've got lowbrow taste that's pretty much the opposite, maybe its from living in these here drab Okie parts down here in the middle of the country too long where some things appear frivolous compared to what we are used to. I love those grey-green dullard grasses like the M. rigens and Pine Muhly, which is just a smaller rigens for all practical purposes. These grasses are what I call Stud. Old high school phrase, but it fits.

    On the same note I love that dry west Texas cowboy look when it comes to the landscape but I wouldn't be caught dead in a cowboy shirt and boots get-up nor do I like country western music, in fact I cannot stand it. But there is just something about that dull dusty Texas landscape that appeals to me, don't know why it just does.

    The pink cotton candy Gulf Muhly grasses are being seriously eyeballed by The Ranger as a grass that is guilty of taking up valuable space in full sun, thats space I am very stingy with since I am surrounded by neighbors tall trees. Somehow I just don't go for pink, I never have. On top of it, I cannot look at that pink foo foo haze and not think of the cotton candy, caramel apple and kewpie doll booths at the State Fair so somehow it looks cheap to me. I don't think I ever had a Little Princess mode, if I did its long gone.

  • catkin
    9 years ago

    Tex, I went back quite a distance on the blog but it was late at night and after a while I stopped reading all the text and just enjoyed the dog and plant pics. I did notice that there were no shots of a significant other but many of him and his children. Sad.

    Camp, we lost two dogs and an elderly cat within a few years of each other around 15 years ago. Still miss them. I'm glad you're getting another. I want a small *mutt* lapdog and a couple of tabby cats and will work on DH, who isn't sure he wants another dog. Losing the others broke him up.

    My favorite flower colors are shell pink (a warm pink with a touch of yellow) and apple blossom (white with pink tinges). Hard to find!

  • wantonamara Z8 CenTex
    9 years ago

    My favorite combination was a dark green mid sized agave inside a haze of Foo Foo Muhly with the setting sun behind it. It rocked me in the mall parking lot, if you can imagine that. I rarely EVER step foot in malls and usually I am in a rotten mood when I do. I am not much of a pink person, but I admire things that go for broke in what they do and this one does that. I do like the pink haze , it is like setting sun fog. I never hung out at the county fair. Being the big city intelgensia child that I was, I was denied the kewpie doll/corndog experience and was denied salt taffy and cotton candy . Poor poor me. I know it theoretically and have seen it in movies so there is that. But I do not go there when I see Foo foo muhly do its thing..It is starting to be used a lot in big plantings everywhere in Texas. Which is a good thing that coporate landscapers are going first to our Natives and looking for solutions that take less water and fertilizer.I hope it does not become the ubiquitous muhly in the way that Pampas _ _ass has. You see the Deer muhly and pine muhly. too. I just picked up some wispy plain jane bloomers, Weeping Muhly (M. dubioides) or Muhly dubi-dubi-do(my name). It is definitely more one for texture.It is an Arizona native so I am hoping for success in the xeric and low nutrient factors.

    The summer reduces colors around here to dull buff tones and greyed out greens. Then when all is just starting to cool down to a livable 70 degrees, the world just gets juicier, the light warmer and gold, young chartreuse, red and purple peek into the palette and the there is a rebirth in color and this pink fog fits right in but near the top of the scale.. I do not see M. capillaris as out of place in the garden experience. It might not be as sparse as the high plains prairies . But it is a native of the coastal prairies of Texas. A slightly different look.

    I have not been successful with growing it in the severe treatment that I give most of my plants. It might have something to do with the placement in a pocket of dirt in solid white hard caliche. I really should be nicer if I want things to thrive..Maybe I should give it another try. It needs a bit more water than what we have been having lately.

  • TexasRanger10
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    catkin--White flowers with pink tinges--Plains Penstemon (P. ambiguus). It appears Penstemon thurberi is just as good, I don't grow that one but from what I have read its similar. It blooms all summer if you have a sandy spot with good drainage.

    Don't ya see a similarity? I was looking at mine around 5:00pm and decided "Well, that is pretty dern purdy with the late sun coming through it". Gee how awful. No cotton candy? No candy or caramel apples on a stick and gaw....NO KEWPIE DOLLS? Didn't ya even git to ride the Tilt-a-Whirl??? or fish for treasures with the little crane thingy? or toss the coins in the plates? Thats childhood deprivation in my book. I still like to go to the State Fair by the way. I can still taste that cotton candy, we even licked the paper cones they wrapped it around. As it is, I'm finishing up the Snickers that the Trick-or-Treaters didn't get last night.

  • wantonamara Z8 CenTex
    9 years ago

    OK, My Fufu muhly never looked like example 2 . Are you sure that wasn't photo shopped. The in your face glob of the C. candy looks a little solid. Does the setting sun glimmer through it with an ephemeral glow?? Does the wind blow its tendrils gracefully?

    Yes I saw those oiled dishes once at the Devon Horse show, and thought what a rip off. I had my fair immersion a little late in life.. We did an amusement park once on the Jersey shore but my mom had a panic attack, but mostly my mother took us to museums, ballets, and concerts . Thrill rides were sailboats , scuba diving, rock climbing in some pretty weird places. But mostly Poker games with artist in some far away homes. Not many fairs of the normal american kind.. Some street fairs and art fairs on the streets of NYC and Philadelphia and Thailand. Do they count? Food was different.No kewpie dolls or tilt-a-rides till college. Then I did a photo essay on a carney. I followed him around for awhile and found a town in New Jersey that was a winter home for a circus complete with elephants and high wires in the trees. That was weird.

    Any way, I do not think Cotton Candy when I see M. Fufu. Princess Campanula, do they have Cotton Candy across the pond?

    This post was edited by wantonamara on Sat, Nov 1, 14 at 22:42

  • catkin
    9 years ago

    Tex, sweet flower! I've gotten some Penstemon from SRG--Watermelon Taffy and Riding Hood Blue. In the past, they've been short lived in my borders. I think it's too wet?

  • TexasRanger10
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    catkin you just might be too wet, I just remembered you are coastal Pacific? Is it foggy and damp there? If so it probably wouldn't do well. Its a dry land plant but not a desert plant necessarily. I grow the Plains Penstemon (ambiguus). I've got it in full sun on a slope growing in sandy soil.

    That looks just like the cotton candy I remember, a big blob of tongue-lickin sweetness. I stole these photos off google -- woops! Me bad. And yes, when they are making them, that spun sugar does glisten with an ephemeral glow in the sunlight like the grass except really its more like delicate cobwebs.

    And I'll have you know....I took tap and ballet lessons under Jackie Troop with all the other awkward and skinny girls in grade school.

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