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Rare Garden Plants
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Fun, Funky Garden Plants
Valerie Garner
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 of being 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.
Valerie Garner - Mother, grandmother and candle maker / owner of
Joyful Designs in Soy (Candles). She loves to write on a variety
of topics with a warm, and engaging style.
http://www.joyfuldesignsinsoy.com
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