Tracelium 'Devotion Purple'

At a garden tour garden this spring a very nice lady raved about the virtues of Tracelium;  she seemed knowledgable, so I made a mental note to look for a couple of plants for my own garden.  Voila, they had them at Roger's this past weekend, paired in a display with Sedum 'Angelina' or suchlike.  
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Looks good.  They were selling 'Devotion Purple', and also had a few pots of species Tracelium caerulium that had a lavender-blue flower.  Didn't get a shot of that one. 
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 Now that I look at the photos, in the landscape they create an effect similar to Limonium perezii, though the foliage is different. One of the guys at Roger's said they were easy to grow, came back reliably each spring after a winter slow down, and reseeded a little.  Trachelium is derived from the Greek word for "neck" (oh, like trachea?) with the common name of Throatwort.   

The plants I bought will be sitting in the shade in the patio until the heat eases.  No planting in the heat of August, but I find it's a great time to buy, because there are a good amount of new plants coming into garden centers in anticipation of autumn, but no one in their right mind is going to garden centers in August (only plant nuts).  

Another plant that was looking nice at Roger's, and I've forgotten the name--Farfugium, is it?  Formerly Lingularia?  A shade plant for damp spots, and since my garden has little shade and no damp spots, I'll never buy one, but they do look fabulous.  I'll admire and appreciate without owning.  Hmm...what about that spot by the family room window...
   
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A begonia sneaks in between the Farfugium leaves.  I love all the gloss.  
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It was near 90F yesterday, so I spent only a short time outside digging up more blocks and trash buried by the concrete guys.  Got out some Red Bull cans, Nandina roots, and three concrete blocks before I started gasping from the heat and retreated into the house where I canned more tomatoes.  That was only slightly cooler, but at least it was out of direct sun. 

 

Comments

  1. Love the colour of the Tracelium flowers! The third pic looks like Farfugium japonicum 'Gigantea', a gorgeous foliage plant!

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    1. Thanks for that ID. The Tracelium has a very somber look to it, purple mixed with dark blue, rather than the more typical purple mixed with a touch of red. Somber is intriguing in the glare of summer.

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  2. Tracelium color fantastic...what is the common name and what zones?

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    1. Throatwort is the common name, and anywhere as an annual, blooming the first year. Hardy only to 40F or thereabouts.

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