13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
I picked up a 'Magnum' this afternoon. A this point, the leaves on the one I bought are not unusually large - there were some with larger leaves there but I figured it might be best to get a smaller plant and let it settle in. I like the color at this stage but it's clearly going to get the silver cast to the leaves as the summer progresses so the color will wash out.... I think I'll plant it in the driveway border to see how it performs before deciding if that will be its final position. It'll be easy to keep it watered there when it needs it. I would think that the large leaves might mean it'll need more water than normal ones.
Hi Corey,
I thought I'd chime in since I got my first crossandra 'marmalade' last year and I absolutely love it. It was sold to me as an annual, but I brought it inside for the winter and it bloomed nonstop with just me watering it and no special attention. Now it's back out on my porch steps. Just be careful when you transition from inside to outside as it can get sunburned easily if you give it too much sun too fast. I find it does like a bit of shade in the afternoon, but I've also put it in full sun and it did fine there too.
I think you're going to find crossandra a beautiful and easy plant! Sara
P.S. I'd venture to guess that this would not survive the winter in the ground in very many places in the United States except the extreme south, but you'll need to figure out your zone to find out for sure if it would survive where you live.
This post was edited by sara82lee on Mon, Jul 7, 14 at 17:19
Well Texas Ranger, I don't think my bookkeeping technique is really a product of my personality. I am by nature a very messy and spontaneous personality. That trait has resulted in some big gardening mistakes in the past, like digging up and discarding the roots of much valued perennials. So I am forced to adopt a more structured recording style. I'm still spontaneous but I have a bit more discipline in keeping up with what is where. And records of color and height aid my less than perfect memory. For me, just a matter of necessity. :)
I used to know the names of all my plants but I'm forgetting them! I learned the Latin when I began gardening, now I feel I need to know them! I don't lose sleep over it, though.
I also want to know for the sake of others who ask about particular plants. Uh....uh...it's on the tip of my tongue!
I'm heavily considering retiring so this is just one of the goals on my many lists...wherever they all are! LOL!
Thanks for the interesting conversations!
Those bamboo stakes have become my best friend!
David, I have some plants that aren't doing too well because I moved/ planted them too late in the season but after seing your current picture, I am hoping they will be ok next spring if they don't straighten up before the end of this season.
My gardens didn't turn out exactly the way I wanted either. I have tall plants around the front and shorter plants in the middle. It's a bit of a mess to me but everyone who visits says it looks beautiful.
Since this is only my second year gardening, I really am kind of doing a test run, watching how everything grows, taking lots of pics and next year I can rearrange.
you add more pix to the same post.. to make it easy for the reader... as the posts will get separated over time..
and you do that.. by replying to the original post ...
now i have to go find that.. because this one makes no sense at all .. as it was the first one i opened..
this is a common mistake of newbs.. so dont sweat it ... live and learn ....
ken
Since no one's jumped in yet, I'll give this a whirl.
Are you certain that the verbena sold to you is indeed Homestead Purple, or could it have been mislabeled? Have you contacted your supplier to find out more about this? Perhaps other plants marked HP have bloomed in the same manner.
Verbena can be propagated by cuttings or seeds. Cuttings will be identical to the mother plant, but seeds can be variable, especially if other varieties of verbena are growing nearby which may have cross pollinated, but even pollinated by the identical variety. A lone specimen of white Phlox paniculata David set seed here (so self-fertile) & one of the seedlings bloomed lavender. Checking to see if this was unusual, found David's Lavender, a sport of David introduced & patented by Itsaul Plants in Georgia. Assuming theirs originated in the same way as mine and has been continued from cuttings of the seedling (vegetative propagation), but it's possible the Lavender grew from a branch of David.
The link is to some varieties new for 2014. There's a slideshow & Lanai Twister Purple looks something like you describe. There may be others.
A sport usually arises as a branch different in growth on an existing plant & is considered a mutation. If cuttings from the oddball branch grow identically, and cuttings from those plants down the line, it's considered a stable mutation & can be considered a new variety. Sometimes a stable mutation will revert & show the characteristics of the plant from which the sport arose. That's all memory turns up on the subject, but others likely know more.
If you determine yours is a new variation, you could always fool around with cuttings to be sure it's stable. Don't know anything about patenting plants or selling distribution rights to such plants.
Rosie, how exciting to have met Dr. Armitage & how lucky to get a special plant before its official introduction!
Here is a link that might be useful: Verbena new for 2014
Sue,
Thanks much for info/clarification, et al. Right now flowering is slowing on all the Homesteads so I will have to update later.
Don't know about mislabeling. These were grown for my SIL who owns a landscaping company.
Interesting about the P. paniculata. And what a coincidence. I gave Bobby Saul some of the Homestead Purple when Dr. Armitage gave it to me. The rest is history.
My daughter got her degree in Horticulture at UGA and I spent many, many days going to lectures by Alan and Dr. Mike Dirr. They gave me so many great plants and the memories will always be with me. What a pair those two best friends were!!
I'll be back with more when reblooming resumes and I can get a pic.
Rosie
super