Monday, May 5, 2008

A Welcome Annual Visitor

Although I rarely grow annuals in my gardens*, the self-seeding varieties that come back on their own every year are always welcome guests!

This particular one is cerinthe (Honeywort, Blue Shrimp Plant or Blue Wax Flower are some common names), and I am crazy about it because of the gorgeous color of the foliage (bluish-green) and the flowers (violet-purple) and it just appears every spring and blooms well into summer and then just kind of disappears until I forget it was even there until it appears again the following year.

It doesn't seem to spread much so I wouldn't call it invasive, just an orderly annual visitor.

*I have nothing personal against annuals, I just don't seem to have time to replant them every season.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, that one is wonderful, Sheila! I've written it down. I, too, love plants that come and go and I thrill to its return in the spring. That deep appreciation for the beauty of The Season...

Ki said...

The flowers are a gorgeous color. I love the deep purple blue contrasted with the dark pink. You are fortunate it reseeds freely.

Annuals are a pain, (literally in the back) but nice to have when the perennials stop flowering in summer. Otherwise we wouldn't go to the effort to plant them either.