Rhododendron fortunei
I purchased this shrub because it was celebrated for its intoxicating perfume and I’m a pushover for fragrant plants. But for years, it produced not so much as a single flower bud. It just sat around and didn’t even feign embarrassment or shame for its sorry performance. So I gave up and avoided eye contact.
Sure enough, as soon as I ceased hovering like a helicopter Mom, R. fortunei burst into fragrant, glorious bloom. And she’s quite a ‘looker.’ A big 2011 success.
An important lesson learned: Mother Nature sometimes does things in her own time and, however difficult, we gardeners have to learn patience.
copyright 2012
Rosa ‘Golden Fairy Tale’
This shrub rose is one of the Kordes introductions from Germany which are grown without pesticides and toxic sprays, and which undergo years of extensive testing before being offered for sale to the general public. My Rosa ‘Golden Fairy Tale’ bloomed soon after planting and didn’t stop until hard frost. And she is, true to her reputation, disease free — an ideal plant for an organic garden. Moreover, she’s a beauty, with abundant, fragrant, buttery yellow, old-fashioned multi-petaled flowers. A complete package and a new favorite.
copyright 2012
Mandevilla hybrid?
I received this plant as a gift, and what a gift it is! It came without a name tag, but because it produced oceans of beautiful, mandevilla-like, fire-engine red flowers, I assume mandevilla is one of its parents. Unlike mandevilla, the plant is not a vine, but rather an ever-blooming annual. For me, it was a show-stopping summer- fall container plant which I never want to be without.
copyright 2012