Friday, December 28, 2007

More endangered natives from Plant Delights




These pics taken at Plant Delights show two endangered indigeonous species that they grow to perfection. Spegelia gentianoides is a lovely pink endangered wildflower that resembles a pink gentian when in bloom. The flowers are closed for the greater part of the day, but do open later on to form a flared tube with five points. I had trouble growing my first plant from Plant Delights, it developed black lesions on the leaves and stems. This time I fungicided the hell out of it, and it seemed to do better this time, but then died back during the fall. So I brought the pot indoors and am pleased to see that it is resprouting nicely right now. Hope I can keep it happy in 2008. Gaillardia aestivilis var winkleri is unusual for its soft pink color in an otherwise hot colored genus. This endangered Texas native spreads by means of underground stolons, and hopefully will get through the winter up here. I placed my plant right against the wall in my school garden, so its roots should be well protected against severe cold. The shoots have died back so I will have to wait until spring to see if it made it. PD also had a purple flowered selection that I will have to order or pick up on my next visit.

3 comments:

cobanignesi said...

Geranios: I am delighted to have found your blog. Surely the best of its kind. I, too, am among other things a Geraniaceae aficionado, and hope to hear more from you on the subject (and about your own cultivars). Happy New Year.

geranios said...

Thanks for the kind comments, I hope you continue to enjoy my postings!

Panayoti said...

Delighted to stumble on your Blog, Ernie: didn't realize you had it. I was trying to locate you to send you my latest notes on Pelargonium quercetorum at DBG's blogspot:

http://www.botanicgardensblog.com/

Wish you were here to see it now. Off to S Africa in 3 weeks--Yikes!
Panayoti