2010: A Good Year for Tobacco?

As in “Scented Nicotiana” that is. This is Jasmine Alata, grown from seed; I followed the packet’s instructions precisely, more or less, and nothing happened. The plants, tiny, just sat there all summer long. I watered and fertilized, moved the containers from one spot to another – nothing helped.

Now they are growing so rapidly that I can almost see them getting bigger as I spend a few hours in my garden. I think it’s because our summer has been brutally hot, which affected the growth of many plants. The days now are still very hot (91F today, expected to go down to 79F by Sunday), but the nights are much cooler. The question now is: will it bloom before the first frost of the season, which could come as early as four weeks from now, kills it. I hope so!

The Gaillardia did not like the hot summer either, but is now coming back nicely, and the Calibrachoa from Hort Couture is getting a new lease on life as well. Other plants in the picture: Coleus, Alternanthera, Basil, Yarrow, Blue Daze and a Dill that is determined to stick around till it can produce some seeds for next year. I love an eclectic garden - even on a patio corner!

Plant "Marriages"

"What's your favorite plant marriage this year?" is a question recently posed by Alice Joyce of San Francisco in a discussion by garden writers.

Hers is a blue and gold combination of  Trachelium caeruleum & Crocosmia 'Solfatare'.

From Seattle, Christina Salwitz responded with: "The Santolina 'Lemon Fizz' with Blue trailing Verbena and Cocosmia 'Lucifer'".

In my case, I have long loved the combination of Coleus and Alternanthera 'Gail's Choice'. This year, I have a collection of Coleuses with the Alternanthera and added a Creeping Jenny and Hosta for effect. They have grown so well (north-facing porch), despite Georgia's brutally hot and humid summer, that one of my sons, taking a look at the collection the other day, wondered out loud if I had gone and "robbed the local nursery". No robbing required -- they've all grown from small cuttings, a practice I will continue to follow.

Favorite Plants and Insects

The bumblebees and the butterflies love Joe Pye. A spider has made a home between an Alternanthera and a Coleus. It is fascinating to observe their behavior.

Bloomin' Alternanthera

I have entirely too many plants in my house, in pots and rooting in jars of water! I had not meant to have two glass-topped tables in my dining room covered in plants (they were meant for candles, a tea set and my beautiful Peruvian tray with bottles of Cognac and Benedictine in winter, and Vodka and Campari in summer . . .) - heck, I never even meant to become a gardener! - but c'est la vie! I'm totally into plants, gardening and all that good sort of stuff for the past several years and keeping plants alive indoors in winter, growing a "crop" to take outdoors again next April/May, has become a mission! The "Bloomin' Alternantera" (cuttings from an Alternantherea 'Gail's Choice') is in the bottom left of this photograph, there is a Begonia 'Bonita Shea' to its right, an Aloe in the top left corner and the others are all Coleuses of one variety or another. I know, too many plants - it's ridiculous!

Annuals that have had a great outdoor summer must be brought indoors (if they are not cast away) before the first frost of the season. That includes this Alternanthera. It grew on my front porch in a large clay pot, with a Coleus and some other plants, until two months ago. After bringing the entire ensemble indoors, the Alternanthera started a phenomenal growth (reaching for the light?) and its branches were two feet longer yesterday than they were in October, when I decided to cut them off, put them in water and begin rooting them. To my amazement, the thing was blooming! It's not much of a bloom, but see those little white fur balls as the tips of the cuttings? Cute, but not a competitor for my Christmas cacti!

Does Size Matter?

Not in my experience! Not in my garden! The above photograph is of two small purple Violas (click to enlarge), with a variegated Sage on the right, a new Pineapple Sage at the top (almost killed by the early April frost, but coming back nicely), and a Canna "fan" near it. Cannas, I was told when I first started gardening, only grow at trailer parks and abandoned gas stations. Not so! I only have one, but my daughter who lives two towns over has a bunch of them in her garden. All are beautiful.

A few tiny Violas, sprinkled throughout my landscape last winter are now blooming their little hearts out. This bright yellow one, with a smaller purple one to its right, just below the clump of Thyme, is a perfect example. The red specks (top of picture) are Alternanthera 'Gail's Choice' -- cuttings from last year, kept in water to root during the winter, just added to the landscape. They will turn a deep purple/rust when summer arrives and, I hope, grow as tall as their "parents" did last year.