#Calibrochoa supercal light blue full#

The secret of this plant’s resilience is its rhizomes which keep the plant alive no matter what in other words, it’s impossible to kill it. Should the leaves droop, they can be revived with water but even should they die, you need only cut them down to the ground for new foliage to take their place. It thrives in shady locations and can grow for extended periods without water. It produces enormously lush emerald green leaves with deeply cut teeth on its margins. Much could be written to extol bear’s breeches’ virtues, but the most laudatory description would still fall short. Acanthus comes from a Greek word meaning thorn and references the spiny leaf margins, which may be soft to prickly, of this and other Acanthaceae species.

#Calibrochoa supercal light blue full#

Most of them thrive in half-day sun, although they also do well enough in full sun and a species known as bear’s breeches (Acanthus mollis) actually prefers shady locations. Each plant is of a unique character, and all are highly worthy of taking up space in your garden. Each member of this family has an alluring aspect that you will find it hard to forget once you have experienced it. Thunbergia vines – named for Swedish plant explorer Carl Peter Thunberg – belong to the Acanthaceae family of plants. You do see sulphur yellow in certain roses, irises, and Marguerite daisies and there is a new hybrid of a petunia and a calibrachoa from PanAmerican Seed - a so-called petchoa - that sports flowers in this same category of yellow. But a pale, luminescent yellow offers a powerful contrast to the bright pinks, reds, oranges, and blues of more common flowers, bringing out their flare all the more. In general, it seems that if a plant is going to produce flowers, it does so without restraint and brilliant colors are more commonly encountered than subdued ones. Such a muted yellow is not often encountered in the plant world. Let me say another word about what attracted my wife to the vine she had to have: it was the sulphur or butter-yellow color of its blooms. It has enormous deep lavender blue trumpet blooms and tough tuberous roots it may die back to the ground in a freeze but then exhibit explosive growth of ten feet or more the next year. In this context, blue sky vine (Thunbergia grandiflora) is also worthy of note. Loren Zeldin, a master gardener in Reseda – in the heart of the San Fernando Valley – reports that his Thunbergia vines have flourished for decades and, even after being damaged by frost return robust as ever when the weather warms. Sometimes even Sunset Western Garden Book – known as the gardeners’ bible – can make a mistake. Although this and other Thunbergia species are sensitive to cold, even if they suffer dieback when it freezes, they generally revive the following spring. Regarding this irrepressible climber, the information provided by Sunset Western Garden Book is erroneous, as it claims that black-eyed Susan vine only grows as a perennial within a few miles of the ocean, but otherwise dies in the winter.

You could also place a trellis in a pot and have it grow vertically there or plant it in a hanging basket and see it climb up the chain from which the basket is suspended. Its tendrils give away its status as a climber and, with this knowledge, I have situated mine in a planter at the base of a patio post although you can also utilize it as a ground cover if you choose. Black-eyed Susan vine is a prolific bloomer whose five-petaled pinwheel flowers blanket its leaves from spring until fall. There is even a variety whose tangerine petals are bordered with amber stripes. Typically, you see this vine with orange flowers but, in addition to the lemon yellow that we brought home, you will occasionally see black-eyed Susan vine with white, pink, peach, red, or bronze blooms. It happened a few days ago when the object of my wife’s desire was a yellow-flowered cultivar of black-eyed Susan vine (Thunbergia alata). When you stroll through a nursery with your wife and she points to a plant and says, “I want that,” you gladly comply with her request.