Gardening Archives - Page 6 of 10

Fairy Garden Dreams! Mini Coleus

As far as I can tell, Fairy Gardens and the miniatures that go with them are still insanely popular. Fairy gardens are usually planted with succulents and other small-leaved low growing plants. This spring you might try this new mini coleus. It’s perfect for your fairy gardens.

Sea Monkey and Sea Urchin are the tiniest of coleus and a perfect way to add some color to your fairy garden!

Sea Urchin

Sea Urchin has narrow leaves in three colors, clockwise from top of picture above, Red, Copper, and Neon.

Here are all three in August of last year.

Sea Urchin Neon

Sea Monkey

Sea Monkey has ‘shrimpy’ shaped leaves and is also offered in three colors. Apricot, Purple, and Rust.

This picture is from the beginning of August last year, so you can see they really do stay small!

The leaves are fingertip size!

Fairy Gardens, Terrariums, and more!

Can you imagine how much fun these colorful little annuals will be? The best part is coleus will grow in shade, so now you can have your fairy garden under a tree and plant it too! Terrariums on your covered patio, container gardens under your umbrella. It’s always exciting to have a new options for shade.

Succulents are the usual choice for fairy gardens, but they need full-sun to thrive. Without it, they get leggy and ugly-looking. There are other choices like creeping thyme and some tropicals, but colorful foliage is a bit harder to find.

Until now!

I’ll be hunting for Sea Monkey Purple to make myself a fairy garden this spring! How about you? Do you have a fairy garden?

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Craspedia ‘Golf Beauty’

Since this is the dreaming season for gardeners, let me tell you about Craspedia Golf Beauty. New for the 2017 season, Golf Beauty is hands down the annual I am most excited to try in my own garden.

Golf Beauty is an exciting new option for larger container gardens and patio pots, so say good-bye to those boring spikes! Please say good-bye to them – there are tons of more exciting options for height.

In mixed containers yellow is a perfect contrast for vivid fuchsias and velvety dark blues.

Golf Beauty has silvery green foliage clustered near the bottom of sturdy stems. The best part of Golf Beauty is that spent blooms discretely fade to light tan and are attractive in their own right.

Because it’s new for 2017, I haven’t grown this one myself but it’s number one on my wish list for the upcoming garden season. I can’t wait to see those vivid yellow flowers in my garden. I’ll be sure to add my opinions on heat tolerance and flower power in the future.

Craspedia ‘Golf Beauty’ at a glance:

Height

Golf Beauty will reach heights of 24-30″ (60-75 cm), this is a more compact variety of Craspedia than ones grown for use as cut flowers.

Spread

Golf Beauty has a spread of 14-18″ (35-45 cm). Visual bulk is at the base of the plant, the flowers sit well above the foliage.

Light needs

Craspedia Golf Beauty prefers full-sun, save this one to add a hit of vivid color to your sunny corners and nooks.

Foliage Color

Foliage is a beautiful silvery green that reminds me of carnations.

Flower Color

Flowers are sunny yellow globes. Spent flower heads turn a discrete soft-tan color.

If you’re looking for a bold hit of yellow to add to your container designs, be sure to pin this one for your wish list!

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Megawatt Begonia, Biggest of the Big

I know we’ve still got plenty of summer left, but I can’t wait until September to gush over my Megawatt Begonia. In my flowerbeds, they have clearly proven they are the biggest of the really big begonias.

Amazing Flower Power!

The color I have is Pink Bronze Leaf and I planted mine on the May long weekend. They started flowering within a week or two and have flowered like crazy ever since.

Heat and Drought tolerant!

These begonia have proven their heat tolerance through some seriously hot weather and continued to flower right through it. After the first week or two, I’ve only watered once a week at most, usually less, and we’ve had very little rain here this summer.

The series comes from PanAmerican Seed, the same company behind the popular Dragon Wing and Baby Wing series of Begonia. In my opinion this begonia has some serious star power.

I planted mine in a bed that receives just a couple of hours of morning sun and it is thriving. Megawatt Begonia have these wonderful beefy stems and grows with a well branched upright habit, perfect for show stopping planters. One one each side of an entrance would look amazing!

The blooms on Megawatt Pink Bronze Leaf Begonia are huge, showy clusters above thick glossy bronze leaves, and they flower profusely. I really can’t say enough about how gorgeous these begonias are.

Megawatt Begonia at a glance:

Height

Megawatt Begonia will reach heights of 20-28″ (51-71 cm).

Spread

Megawatt Begonia will need plenty of room so be sure to space them 12-16″ (30-41 cm) apart.

Vigor & Size

Megawatt Begonia is a monster of a begonia. It has well branched hearty stems and large leaves to support the showy flowers. I have not pinched or fertilized mine.

Foliage Color

Megawatt Begonia is available in both green-leaved and bronze-leaved varieties. Bronze-leaved varieties are earlier to flower than green-leaved.

Flower Color

For 2017 Megawatt will be available in Pink Bronze Leaf, Rose Bronze Leaf, Red Green Leaf, and Rose Green Leaf. Flowers are huge with no need to deadhead.

Flower Season

Just like the popular Dragon Wing series, Megawatt flowers from spring through to frost.

Exposure

Part Sun, but will probably do just fine in shadier locations as well. It is worth noting that of the three I have, the one that gets a couple more hours of sun is taller than the other two.

If you’re looking for a continuous flowering showy annual, be sure to pin this one for your wish list!

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Hosta ‘Sun Power’

I’ve had Hosta Sun Power for a several years, but for one reason or the other, never under ideal conditions.

Last spring, I divided my clump and planted it in the raised corner bed to provide a backdrop for my Santa Cruz and San Francisco begonia.

Here is the same bed a year later. You can see how rapidly Hosta Sun Power is filling the space. A mature Sun Power has a spread of up to 5 feet so one clump will fill most of the awkward to reach back corner of this bed.

The foliage on Hosta Sun Power is high impact with its bright chartreuse to gold color and slightly rippled leaf edges.

No margins or variegation on these leaves, Sun Power makes a showy statement without them.

Mine are in flower with pretty spikes of pale lavender or orchid colored blooms.

Hosta Sun Power at a glance:

Height:

Sun Power when mature will reach heights of 27-29 inches or 70-75 cm

Spread:

Sun Power will spread out to 47-59 inches or 120-150 cm so be sure to give it lots of space in your garden.

Vigor & Size:

Hosta ‘Sun Power’ is a large-sized hosta. It’s size, spread and gorgeous sunny color make it an excellent choice for background plantings in your garden

Foliage Color:

Large leaves are slightly twisted giving a ripple-effect to the edges. Leaf color ranges from chartreuse to bright gold, and for best color this hosta likes a bit of morning sun.

Flower Color:

Flowers are a pale orchid or lilac color on 36″ scapes.

Hosta Sun Power is perfect choice for bright sunny color in shade to part shade gardens so be sure to pin it for your wish list.

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Hosta Golden Tiara

Hosta Golden Tiara with its tidy heart-shaped leaves and compact height of just 15″ is one of my favorites in the garden.

The picture above is a one year old clump, it will eventually reach a spread of up to 35″ making it an excellent choice for borders. To see an example of mature Hosta ‘Golden Tiara’ used as a garden border click here.

Hosta ‘Golden Tiara’ has medium green leaves with chartreuse margins. When grown in sun the margins will become more gold-colored. Light purple flowers will appear mid-summer, they are darker when Golden Tiara is grown in sun.

Hosta Golden Tiara at a glance:

Height:

Golden Tiara when mature will reach heights of 12-16 inches or 30-40 cm

Spread:

Golden Tiara will spread out to 29-35 inches or 75-90 cm so be sure to give it some space in the garden.

Vigor & Size:

Hosta ‘Golden Tiara’ is a medium-sized hosta. It’s size and spread make it an excellent choice for garden borders but it is also suitable for container growing.

Foliage Color:

Heart shaped leaves have a medium green center with a narrow chartreuse edging. Edges will become more of a gold color when grown in sun.

Flower Color:

Flowers appear mid-summer on 24 inch scapes. They are lilac or light purple, but darker when grown in sunnier locations.

If Hosta Golden Tiara isn’t already a part of your shade garden it would be an excellent addition, so be sure to pin this one for your wish list.

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