Pretty in Pink
Pink Wonder fanflower and friends – one to look out for in 2015
It's often the case that it is only when we are challenged to do something different we discover that we actually quite like it.
Such has been the case with two pink flowering annuals I have grown this year. They will be available in 2015 from good nurseries or direct from Proven Winners (who have neither paid nor bribed me to write this!) See what you think.
Pink Wonder fan flower (Scaevola 'Pink Wonder')
Pink Wonder fanflower
Of the two this is my hands down favorite. This was in bloom when it arrived in May and has never stopped flowering since. It has grown equally well in sun and part shade – like its blue counterparts – making it ideal for those of us who have two containers flanking the front door with different light exposures.
I especially liked it in the mixed container shown at the top of this post with dusky purple sedum, soft green Sunburst Aeonium, white bacopa and silver Bella Grigio lambs ears.
Superbena Royale Cherryburst Verbena
Royale Sunburst verbena – new for 2015
Quite a mouthful I know but worth remembering. This is somewhere between a hot pink and red with a crisp white star. Like most verbenas it blooms in waves but the color is so vibrant I'd grow it anyway. Try it with the grass Northern Lights tufted hair grass ( Deschampsia cespitosa) which has pink highlights with its soft yellow and green stripes and white flowering Diamond Frost euphorbia plus other annuals, perennials and shrubs such as those shown below. Not shown in this photo are the soft green foliage of a sedum and a blue star juniper (I got carried away focusing on this pretty verbena!)
Royale Cherryburst verbena in a mixed summer container
Do you think you'll try them next year?
Both these container plantings look so lush…no mid summer waning or straggling. Are you particularly disciplined with fertilizing and deadheading?
No Michaele I'm a lazy gardener! I choose mainly foliage then just a few select flowering annuals, preferably those that need no dead heading at all. The fan flower is fabulous in this regard but the verbena does need a trimming about twice a week.
For fertilizer I use Osmocote at the start of the season then Moo Poo tea once or twice during the summer (Available from Haven Brand)
Foliage First – that's the key (and why I co-write the award winning book Fine Foliage!)