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!
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.
ReplyDelete