Page Two, What Will This Year's Garden Look Like?
Another gorgeous phormium is ‘Flamingo’ (P. cookianum ‘Flamingo’), which is striped with bright pinks, gray green, and orange. It reaches 3 feet. Small, reddish-brown cultivars include ‘Dazzler,’ ‘Rubrum,’ and ‘Amazing Red’; reddish-purple ‘Atropurpurea’ grows 8 feet tall.
Flax’s form can be used to make a strong architectural statement when planted en masse or something very formal when layered using tall, medium-sized, and dwarf cultivars. A softer look can be achieved by combining it with ornamental grass.
Phormiums need sun and moist but well drained soil. In Zone 7 and colder, phormium would need winter protection. It’s at home year-round in Zones 8 to 10 but not in the humid, coastal parts of 10 (southwest Florida) where I garden.
Another color powerhouse is Perilla ‘Magilla.’ Easily mistaken for a coleus, perilla has rounded, ovate leaves and an insignificant flower. The only variety I had encountered previously was P. frutescens crispa, which has dark purple-brown or bronzy leaves. Perillas, members of the mint family, are aromatic and used in such foods as sushi. Gardeners in deer country will appreciate the fact that they’re deer proof, most likely because of the aroma.
‘Magilla’ is much more colorful than its cousin and just as easy to grow. It’s leaves are painted a vibrant burgundy with magenta splashes and green striping. The more sun it gets the more vivid the magenta. It looks great in a container and, growing 2 plus feet, in the middle of the border. Another easy source of bright color is sweet potato vines. The moment they were introduced they became an indispensable part of the annual border, hanging basket culture, and container planting. Their only problem soon became apparent: an aggressive nature that required continual pruning to keep in check. It’s so bad in my area (Zone 10) that we refer to them as the kudzu of the South.
I’m happy to report that the problem has been solved with better behaved plants. Four new patented cultivars developed by North Carolina State University researchers in cooperation with the JC Raulston Arboretum were released in 2002. The "Sweet Caroline" series dubbed each new cultivar by its color and is characterized by a compact, moundy growth habit, and reduced root size. They offer all the colors currently available (‘Bright Green', 'Blackie', ‘Marguerite’/’Sulfur', ‘Tricolor'/’Pink Frost') plus the uniquely hued 'Sweet Caroline Bronze,' which is coppery-bronze with deeper-contrasting-colored veins. By the way, ipomea’s tubers are edible.
An old favorite that outgrew it’s size in the sunny garden is lantana. New forms are changing that and are definitely worth a try for the continuous show of bright color it delivers.
Lantana’s downsizing has been most successful with the ‘Patriot Rainbow’ from American Daylily and Perennials. Rainbow is 12 inches tall with a 15-inch spread. Other garden-friendly cultivars mound 2 to 3 feet, trailing hybrids are prostrate. Lantana’s tiny, showy flowers come in red, pink, orange, and yellow — and combinations thereof — and form numerous flat clusters on branch ends. Often the older outer flowers of each cluster are of a different hue than the younger, inner ones. ‘Rainbow’s’ flower buds open chiffon yellow, shift to orange, and finally turn fuchsia and pink.
Lantana is a deciduous woody plant that will die to the ground in frost zones. In those areas, treat it as an annual or dig and take it inside before night temperatures drop into the 40’s. The plant is tolerant of any soil, even what passes for soil in coastal areas. If lantana dries out severely, it will stop blooming; consistent watering until established is critical. Once established, it’s drought tolerant, making it perfect for containers, hanging baskets, or xeriscape planting. Small disadvantages worth putting up with include hairy leaves that can cause minor skin irritation and a strong odor that some gardeners find repugnant (including myself). Those drawbacks are only encountered when planting or when weeding adjacent areas. So I leave my ‘Rainbow’ lantana alone and stand back and enjoy the showy flowers and the butterflies that can’t resist them.
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