Monday, August 10, 2009

Sweet Scents of Heliotrope

I love every kind of heliotrope, from the white ones to the lavender ones to the dark purple ones. I love the sweet flower heads, I love the crinkly dark green leaves, but I especially love the amazingly sweet scent. It is sometimes called the 'cherry pie plant' because of the scent. I think it is kind of vanilla-y. It is a short-lived perennial in our climate. It grows in either the sun or partial shade and needs to be pinched back to keep it from getting too leggy. I usually plant them from four-inch pots because they grow quite quickly. I have a lavender one that is almost four feet tall in Laguna, but most of them stay closer to two feet in height, making them a good plant in a mixed garden bed.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just discovered your blog. Your heliotrope is lovely! And, you have the most beautiful begonias. I'll be visiting your blog regularly henceforth.

Anonymous said...

Addendum to my previous comment: I wish you had posted a bit of the heliotrope fragrance too :)

Anonymous said...

How beautiful! That colour is spectacular -- yes, I wish I could smell them, too! :)

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

I love heliotrope. I always plant a few in my containers since it's just an annual here. They smell like vanilla to me too.