Tag Archive for: Pink flowers

I have a wonderful treat for you! This week’s blog post is from Dr. Jacqueline Soule.

Chances are that her name sounds familiar and that is because she is a noted plant expert and well-known author of several books on desert gardening.

Jacqueline grew up in Tucson and currently resides there where she enjoys growing low-maintenance plants that add beauty, which thrive in the desert.

I am fortunate to call Jacqueline my friend and we are both part of SWGardening.com I am excited to share with you her post on Germander.

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Gorgeous Germander (Teucrium chamaedrys) Photo by Amadej Trnkoczy cc 3.0

Germander (Teucrium chamaedrys) Photo by Amadej Trnkoczy cc 3.0

Gorgeous Germander 

by Jacqueline A. Soule, Ph.D.

Special for AZ Plant Lady, 03 2020

Germander is a gorgeously green low-water ground cover that grows well in Arizona, is great for pollinators, and happens to be usable as a culinary herb.  

Greeting from another desert garden this week – that of garden writer Jacqueline Soule, who lives in Tucson (Gardening With Soule – in the Land of El Sol).  Noelle has graciously shared her space this week to allow me to introduce you to one herb for your landscaping.  

Germander Has a Long History

This handsome herb was brought to the mission gardens of Arizona in 1698 by Father Kino.  Germanders are native to the rocky hillsides of Greece and Turkey, where they get rain only in the winter.  This means they tolerate dry and hot conditions well!

Gorgeous Germander (Teucrium chamaedrys) growing in a Sedona garden.

Germander (Teucrium chamaedrys) growing in a Sedona garden.

Which One to Use?

There are around 100 species of germander!  The one most commonly used in landscaping is the wall germander (Teucrium chamaedrys).  This species has tiny, bright green, rounded leaves.  The creeping germander is the same species, but has been selected over time to be a low ground cover (Teucrium chamaedrys var. prostratum).  Both of these are available at many local nurseries (but not big box stores).

For landscaping, germander offers a gorgeous bright, forest-green.  I confess, I prefer this color in general over the blue-green of rosemary.  Even in poor soil and with little water, germander grows to form a dark green carpet, about 2 feet around per plant, the creeping germander a bare 4 to 6 inches tall.

Germaders grow well in alkaline (unamended) desert soil, in full sun to part shade situations.  Reflected summer light is tad too much for them, so not under picture windows.

Teucrium chamaedrys by Amadej Trnkoczy cc 3.0 002

Teucrium chamaedrys by Amadej Trnkoczy cc 3.0 002

Fragrant Flowers

Both germander and rosemary have many oil glands in their leaves and are fragrant plants.  But then there are the flowers!  Germander flowers are far more fragrant than rosemary.  Germander blooms are almost honey-scented, like sweet alyssum.  Like rosemary, germander are bee pollinated, by both European honey bees and by our native Arizona solitary bees, with occasional butterfly visitors.

Use In Your Landscape

Both rosemary and germander can be used in roasting potatoes or to add flavor to meat dishes.  I use either herb to scrub down the grill prior to cooking – depends on which needs pruning.  In ancient Greece, hunters would field dress their meat with germander, often found growing wild in the hills.  (It may have anti-microbial properties.)  Germander abounds on Greek hillsides because the strong oils render it unpalatable to wildlife.  I won’t promise it is rabbit proof, but those “wascally wabbits” don’t bother mine.  

Herbs that can be used to create a beautiful, low-water-using, edible, Southwest landscape are numerous. Learn more in this webinar offered March 25, 2020 by the Herb Society of America – only $5 and you don’t have to drive anywhere! Or in April, drive to Carefree, where Jacqueline will speak about “Gardening for Fragrance” on April 18 2020.

Jacqueline

Want to learn more from Jacqueline? Check out two of her most popular books –  Arizona, Nevada & New Mexico Month-by-Month Gardening and Southwest Fruit & Vegetable Gardening.

You can follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Javelina in the Desert Garden

The dog days of summer have arrived, which means that I spend most of my time indoors.  So, I spend time on my garden writing, knitting, trying new recipes and catching up on reading some great books.   I also decided to tackle my photo library.  It is very large and filled with gardening photos, covering everything from close-ups of favorite blossoms, unique containers, DIY projects, vegetable gardening and pictures taken of the beautiful Southwest.

Over the next few weeks, I won’t be doing a lot of gardening outdoors, (if I can help it), so I thought that I would share with you some of my favorite pictures, grouped by subject.

This week, I would like to share with you some of my favorite close-up photos of flowers.

So, to start it off, here is a photograph from one of my most popular blog posts…

Beautiful Southwest - Queen's Wreath Vine (Antigonon leptopus)

Beautiful Southwest – Queen’s Wreath Vine (Antigonon leptopus) 

Aren’t these pink blossoms beautiful?

I took this picture on the Arizona State University campus some years ago.

You can learn more about this vine and why it does so well in low-desert gardens, here.

I hope you come back tomorrow for my next close-up flower photo AND I will be announcing the winner of the giveaway for one of my favorite gardening books, “Hellstrip Gardening”.

Enter now to win a free copy! Hellstrip Gardening Book Giveaway

As a horticulturist, I have quite a few plants on my list of favorites.  So many in fact, that I cannot grow them all in my own garden.

But, this favorite has a prominent place in my home landscape – I have four of them.

Pink Trumpet Vine (Podranea ricasoliana)

This pink beauty is what I see when I look out my kitchen window.

I can also see another one growing when I look out my living room window.

And another one when I look out my bedroom window.

You get the idea…

Pink Trumpet Vine (Podranea ricasoliana) grows in both humid and dry climates.  Believe it or not, it is drought-tolerant too!

To learn more about this beautiful, pink plant and why you will want to add one to your garden, check out my latest plant profile for Houzz.

 
 

I want to share with you three amazing plants that I encountered on Saturday, each with pink flowers, yet each one so different from the other.  I spent the afternoon at the Arboretum at Arizona State University (my alma mater).  Many people are surprised to find out that they have a wonderful arboretum that encompasses the entire main campus.  I had a wonderful time just walking around and taking pictures of beautiful trees and plants, my husband patiently trailing behind me with the kids.

OK, first the pretty…

amazing plants

  Queen’s Wreath, Coral Vine (Antigonon leptopus)

Queen’s Wreath is a beautiful vine that is native to Mexico and Central America.  Stunning pink sprays of flowers appear in spring and last until the first frost.  The most common variety has vibrant pink blossoms.  However, there is a scarlet variety ‘Baja Red’ and also a rare white variety as well.  Bees are attracted to the flowers, and the leaves are an attractive heart-shape.

amazing plants

Queen’s Wreath can grow in full sun including areas of reflected heat.  It will also grow in light shade although flowering will be reduced.

amazing plants

This beautiful vine will die back at the first frost, but it’s roots are hardy to 20 degrees F.   In the spring, it quickly grows back and requires a trellis, fence or an arbor for support.

**When we bought our first home in Phoenix, there was support made up of twine tied between two Palm trees.  We had no idea why, but it sure looked ugly.  Well, before we had time to remove it, beautiful, light green, heart-shaped leaves began climbing up the twine support and quickly covered it.  Then gorgeous sprays of pink flowers promptly followed, which was a pleasant surprise.

Next, the amusing…..

amazing plants
amazing plants

 Chinese Lantern Tree, Sickle Bush (Dichrostachys cinerea)

I had to laugh when I saw this flower.  I think it looks like it is having a bad hair day.  You can see why some people call it Chinese Lantern tree because the flowers do resemble them and it sounds better than calling it “Bad Hair Day Tree.” 

amazing plants

The tree itself is relatively unremarkable.  The flowers are not distinct.  It is native to the tropical areas of Africa, parts of Southeast Asia and Australia.  It grows well in full sun or filtered shade.  In wet, tropical areas, it can be invasive.  However, in our dry climate, that is not a problem.

amazing plants

 Seed Pods

**Okay, I have to admit, that I had to look up information on this Chinese Lantern tree – I hate admitting that.  I do not profess to know about every type of plant; this is easily evidenced by my travels to colder climates where I know about only a fraction of what the plants are there.   But this one was in my backyard.  I had never seen this type of tree before and had never learned about it either.  So, I went through my countless dry climate plant books hoping to find what type of tree this was, and only one book had it listed, (which made me feel better).  It is not common here in Arizona, but I guarantee that I will never forget it.

Now finally, the unique…

Floss Silk Tree

 Floss Silk Tree (Ceiba speciosa, formerly Chorisia speciosa)

The flowers of this tree make you stop in your tracks – they are that beautiful and unique.  Unfortunately, the flowers were all gone except for the one above, which was almost ready to fall.  The flowers are produced primarily in fall and winter months.  Some trees will produce flowers once they drop their leaves in winter, while other varieties flower both with and without the leaves being present.  Although the flowers are a striking feature, there is more…

thorns

Their trunk is covered with cone-shaped thorns.

thorns

This beautiful tree does well in full sun or part shade.  They do grow quite large, up to 40 ft. Wide and 50 ft. Tall.  Silk Floss trees are native to Brazil and Argentina.

**So, I was done for the day.  I had two memory cards full of photos, sore feet, and a patient husband and kids, walking with me to the car.  I was about to get in when I saw the Silk Floss tree next to the parking garage.  So my husband, who knows me all too well, wordlessly unpacked the camera so I could take the last few photos.  Occasionally see these trees around the Phoenix area, but rarely, so I was thrilled to get these pictures.

I hoped you enjoyed my visions of pink.  I will post more of my expedition at a later time.  I’m pretty sure it will take me a long time to catalog all of the photos I took.

Can You Over Water Your Plants in the Desert ?