 sitetitle |
 |
|
Fun, Funky Garden Plants I have a love for funky, fun and unique garden plants.
Here's one to try. It's called Sea Holly, and it's
actually in the thistle family. Sea Holly is a perennial
garden plant, which means you plant it once and it
comes up year after year, somewhat depending on your
climate.
This plant never did fail to bring attention
And comments from people seeing my garden. It grows
About 3-4 feet high, very branchy and the branches are
A brilliant electric blue color. It's stunning!
The only drawback to this lovely plant, in the fall you
must cut it to the ground and burn or compost the plant.
Do not let it go longer than that, or it will be
casting seeds and you'll soon discover it's family
trait o fbeing a thistle, if you know what I mean. The
following spring, it'll come back again to it's beauty.
It is an easy plant to grow and does best with full sun,
or as much sun as is available to you. I live in the
Pacific Northwest, U.S.A. so we get a lot of rain
And fairly mild summers and yet it seems to be enough
For this plant. You can search for Sea Holly seeds in
seed catalogs or sometimes you can find it in some
nurserys. An internet search would surely find you a
source for this lovely plant.
I thought I'd let you know about one of the
coolest, funky plants for outdoors I've ever run across.
It's called Evening Scented Stock, it is NOT the common
stock, however.
This is an annual plant, that needs to be sown early
spring, directly into the soil where it is to bloom and
grow. I recommend planting it nearby windows and doors,
porches, etc. This plant really doesn't look like much
in and of itself, it's not a pretty plant per se..but
when about 5:00 PM rolls around watch it do its stuff!
This plant has a VERY powerful fragrance similar to
hyacinths or lilacs. At the gentlest breeze it sends a
waft of fragrance to die for. This is why it's so
excellent to plant near a window, door or pathway. When
you open up your screen in the evening, this will scent
your entire house.
One place that I have found the seeds for this rare
plant is at Fragrant Path, PO Box 328, Fort Calhoun, NE
68023
Here's another one to try. This one is called Autumn
Crocus.In this case you can tell a lot by it's name.
You generally purchase it as a bulb, which are usually
quite large. It does return year after year without
needing to re-plant it.
In the spring it shoots up a lot of foliage, this is
preparing the plant for it's autumn blooms, be sure to
just leave this alone. Come about mid June or so, this
foliage starts looking like it's dying, again just
leave it be. In late August/early September, when most
of the flowers are past their prime and the garden is
starting to look sparse, out comes the Autumn Crocus,
with their beautiful lilac colored blooms. They bloom
for quite a long time when few things are blooming. A
fun plant, give it a try!
This one is an annual (only lives 1 growing season)
plant called Love Lies Bleeding. It's as strange as
it's name. It is very easy to grow. You just simply
direct seed it in the soil (full sun preferably) where
it is to grow in the spring. It's height seems to vary
greatly. I've seen it be as small as about 2 feet high,
and reach up to 6 or7 feet high. It's "flowers" are
long, burgandy colored ropes that hang. It is simply
stunning. Always gets attention! It will usually re-seed
itself so you'll get new plants the following year
without doing anything. It's best to try to find this
seed in an unusual type seed catalog. It is in the
amaranth family.
Here's the last one. Ever tried the hellebore
family? There are many varieties. They are perennial
which means they come back year after year. These are
best planted in shady areas, but where they will get
sun in the winter, like under leafed trees or something
of that nature.
What is so unusual about hellebores is that they
Bloom somewhere between Dec. and March. There are very
Few plants that do that! One variety is called a
Christmas Rose. It's quite striking to see flowers in
the midst sometimes of snow.
These plants usually must be purchased at a
nursery. Check out your local nursery for this wonderful
family of plants.
By Valerie Garner, mother and proud grandma.
The Comfortable Life is a resource guide featuring
many ideas for making life more comfortable, on a
wide range of topics. Finance, creativity, beauty,
health and more. Visit today at:
http://www.thecomfortablelife.com Valerie Garner More Articles 10 Ways to Keep Your Fitness Plan on Track During the Holidays - ARA
|
