Seeds, Fertilizer & Plants
Echinacea (Coneflower) are easy-to-grow annual or perennial plants that bloom from late spring through early summer with frilly thistle-like flowers. The plant also has medicinal properties and is a favorite in Victorian gardens.
Hemerocallis, or daylilies, have showy trumpet-shaped flowers in many shades of yellow, red, pink and white. They add color to borders, cottage gardens and natural landscapes.
Kim Mixon, a real estate guru in east Alabama and west Georgia, is one of the planet’s most ardent lover of flowers in my book. As a busy guru, she uses a company called Eden Estate Management in Columbus, Georgia, to design and install her flower beds. The result: the Garden Guy found himself on what appears to be a Hollywood horticulture set, like the grounds of the Magic Kingdom.
In Mixon’s garden, I had the opportunity to place some plants in trial (which I’ll write about later), and I want to give a shout out to the standout blue Superbena verbena ― or is it violet? “Roses are red, my love, violets are blue” ― and so, the song or poem goes. Is violet blue like the song? It certainly is to me, but I say that knowing full well that when I post pictures of this flower on my Facebook page, many of my followers will be quick to say that it is not blue, but purple.
Supertunia Bermuda Beach trial grow yields huge, vivid blooms
Full Bloom:Despite Mother Nature’s one-two punch, hydrangeas are ready to dance this summer
Garden Guru:Quit clowning around, and let’s have a Heart to Heart about caladiums
North Carolina State University JC Raulston Arboretum.
Superbena Violet Ice can get about 12 inches tall with a potential spread to 30 inches. Fertile, well-drained soil and plenty of sun will have you in Superbena bliss. There is one other key technique to your happiness and that is cutting back. I usually wait until they get tired, but this year I have been cutting back while foliage is vibrant and healthy but with somewhat fewer blooms. I think that this has been a gamechanger with quicker regrowth and blooms. I am in zone 8a and I can usually get three years out of a Superbena whether in containers or in the ground.
How you use it is certainly a matter of preference.
One combination the Eden Estate Management team created was a dazzling layered look with Rockin Golden Delicious pineapple sage, Heart to Heart Burning Heart caladiums and Superbena Violet Ice at the front of the border. Then there was another area where there was a convergence of flowers that created a summer-like bouquet. It featured Luscious Marmalade and Luscious Golden Gate lantanas, Supertunia Lovie Dovie petunias, Zinnias and Superbena Whiteout and Superbena Violet Ice verbenas. The blue, or violet if you will, was the rock star of the combo.
SavannahNow.com/lifestyle/home-garden/.
Source: savannahnow.com
