A New Rose of Sharon

 

I recently made a trip to Chicago to attend the Independent Garden Center Show. Being a plant lover, I am always looking for something different for the garden and this show is the place to go to find it. While wandering around, I spotted this little plant with a bloom that was familiar, but different. It had thicker leaves and even the flower petals seemed thicker. I was surprised that it was a Rose of Sharon. The plant was called Lil' Kim by Proven Winners. It is a Zone 5-8 plant.

I like Rose of Sharon. In my garden, I have twelve of them. All are large shrubs with different colors of leaves or flowers. They give lots of color to the garden when they are in bloom and that color continues for several months. What made this one different? Lil' Kim only grows 3 to 4 feet tall and wide. It has small flowers that bloom for three days instead of one day like my other Rose of Sharon shrubs. It's size and flowers was what sold this plant for me.

The other day, I was visiting the local Lowe's store and there was Lil' Kim. They had just arrived in and you know how the story ends. Lil' Kim went home in the car.

Happy Gardening!

Debbie

What's New in the Garden

It has been a very busy gardening season this year.  Since we have been receiving normal amounts of rainfall this year, it has allowed me to start working on a major project of redesigning and adding new garden beds. The project is taking longer due to a foot injury earlier in the year and with all the rain, dealing with lots of mosquitoes.  Working in the garden has not been as pleasant when you have to wear long pants, long sleeves, gloves and mosquito netting over your head. The project is coming along and with the rain, everything is growing great. I will take this weather anytime over the drought of last year.

I received lots of new plants to trial this year and I have been very excited with all of them.  Over the next few posts, I will share with you some of my favorites.  In the picture above, the dark colored plant on the right side is Colorblaze Marooned or Solenostemon scutellarioides by Proven Winners.  I received this trial plant to try last year and I overwintered it to enjoy again this year. It has a stunning dark color and has been a great plant to grow. The other plant on the left side is Superbells Pomegranate Punch or Calibrachoa hybrid. The flowers are deep red with a black red center. I really like this plant. It blooms well, is disease resistant and really is pretty.  I have heard lots of good comments on this plant from other garden writers who are growing it. It will be available from Proven Winners in 2014. 

Check back over the next few weeks for information and pictures of other great trial plants that are growing in my garden.

Happy Gardening!

Debbie

I am writing for Indiana Gardening Magazine. Check out my story on Growing Tropical Plants in Containers at http://statebystategardening.com/in/newsletter/

Senorita Blanca

 

Over the summer, I had the opportunity to try a new plant in the garden.  Proven Winners sent me three trial plants of Senorita Blanca, which is a Cleome hybrid. I have grown Cleome in the garden before, but this one was different. What I liked about this plant was that when it started blooming, it just kept on producing blooms till the first killing frost took the plant. The flowers are all over the plant and not just on the top of the plant. The plant performed very well in all the heat  and humidity that we had. Last year was a tough year in the garden due to a three month drought.

 

 

Senorita Blanca needs full sun and grows to a height of 24 to 48 inches with a spread of 18 to 24 inches.  The flowers are white to a pale lavender in color and last a long time on the plant.  This plant is sterile, so you will not have seed set and have cleome coming up all over the garden. It was easy to care for and no deadheading was needed.  An extra bonus to this plant was that butterflies and hummingbirds were attracted to it, a must in my garden.

 

I really liked this plant and was sad to see the frost kill it.  It was one of the few plants in my garden that performed well during the drought last year.  This is one plant that I will be adding to my garden again next season.

 

Happy Gardening!

 

Debbie

New and in Review - Luscious Berry Blend

 

Over the summer, I had the opportunity to grow a new trial plant from Proven Winners.  The plant was a Lantana hybrid called Luscious Berry Blend.  I planted one in the ground and one in a container.  The plant is advertised as drought, heat and humidity tolerant.  It did very well in my garden and was one of the few plants that bloomed all season considering Indiana was in the worse drought in over 100 years.

 

 

The plant produces beautiful flowers that were bright pink and yellow mixed into a dark green foliage. It grows in a mounded shape and will grow between 24 to 36 inches tall with a 20 to 30 inch spread. It does prefer full sun and in my zone 6a garden it is considered an annual. Luscious Berry Blend will attract butterflies and hummingbirds to the garden as an extra bonus. 

 

Did I like this plant?  Yes, I did!  Before the frost took the plants, I moved them into my greenhouse.  I plan to replant them into the garden and enjoy them again. I would suggest that you give this award winning plant a try in your garden!

 

Happy Gardening!

 

Debbie