Procrastination Pays Off
Because I am a gardener and not a landscape designer I do things like purchasing plants that are not the easiest and most reliable. I bring them home based on emotion only with no regard to what really works. This was the case with this Queen's Wreath (petrea volubilis) vine that I ran across a few years ago. It had been trained as a standard, something that probably qualifies as a crime against nature (I know Billy, I know!), but I was so excited to see this old fashioned plant at a nursery that I just had to have it. You see there is a lovely, very old one at the Hortense Miller Garden where I am a docent and I am so happy when it is blooming because I love the purple, hanging blooms like charming little presents in the spring. 
So anyway, I found it, bought it, and brought it home and planted it in my SJC garden. In full disclosure I had bought one many years ago and planted it in my Laguna garden and haven't noticed it in years. Not sure if it is even there anymore. So for years I watched it flounder and look terrible and more than once made a mental note to get rid of it after years of one or two blooms and black tipped leaves. Then suddenly last week I was walking by and lo and behold, there it was blooming profusely in the middle of November! I know it may not look like much, but I am easily impressed! Maybe I'll add a trellis and give it a second chance - if I get around to it!
Because I am a gardener and not a landscape designer I do things like purchasing plants that are not the easiest and most reliable. I bring them home based on emotion only with no regard to what really works. This was the case with this Queen's Wreath (petrea volubilis) vine that I ran across a few years ago. It had been trained as a standard, something that probably qualifies as a crime against nature (I know Billy, I know!), but I was so excited to see this old fashioned plant at a nursery that I just had to have it. You see there is a lovely, very old one at the Hortense Miller Garden where I am a docent and I am so happy when it is blooming because I love the purple, hanging blooms like charming little presents in the spring. 
So anyway, I found it, bought it, and brought it home and planted it in my SJC garden. In full disclosure I had bought one many years ago and planted it in my Laguna garden and haven't noticed it in years. Not sure if it is even there anymore. So for years I watched it flounder and look terrible and more than once made a mental note to get rid of it after years of one or two blooms and black tipped leaves. Then suddenly last week I was walking by and lo and behold, there it was blooming profusely in the middle of November! I know it may not look like much, but I am easily impressed! Maybe I'll add a trellis and give it a second chance - if I get around to it!
1 comment:
Isn't it funny how plants can suddenly take off like that when we are contemplating getting rid of them? Do you think they can read our minds? ;) I've never heard of this plant before, but I love purple and it looks sweet.
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