Hello again
After some really impressively heavy rains day before yesterday and yesterday, as well as – probably – last night, the sun came out and the day was lovely and warm, with a gentle breeze.
I simply had to go out and do some work in the "garden". It's actually just a twenty-inch deep bed of excellent to moderate to poor soil that runs along the south face of our house. I've put down some nasturtiums that I salvaged from a compost heap on Iona -- they're doing ok here. I've also sown some seeds that I brought with me and will be most interested to see what actually comes up.
And I pruned back the fleshy shrub that I cut some branches of in May to make quite a spectacular bouquet in May. It made the most tremendous mess on my hallway floor as it dripped with sugary sap from its tiny trumpets. Impressive! So I decided once was enough and I would enjoy the flowers out of doors, and -- most importantly -- let the dozens if not hundreds of bumblebees come and enjoy the nectar.
As I said, I pruned it back. It was still crowding out a lovely, if mangled blue lavender on its left, and grew all over a lovely bright red wild fuchsia shrub on its right. And, more importantly, its flowers had been pollinated and had ripened into clusters of dozens and dozens of seeds. Not sure I want that sort of proliferation. And I was also not too sure whether those seeds might be dangerous to the still small children in the house next door. So, I took my little seccateurs to it and cut out all the branches that were bearing fruit, and continued, taking out more branches. From what I've seen, I'm sure it will grow back and probably make another round of flowers. One branch has already begun to flower again, actually. Maybe the cold spell we had made it feel like it had just come through winter...
As I freed up some of its bigger, older stems, I found the tag. Who knows how long it's been there but the price was still on: £5.95 -- a lot of flowers for a modest amount of money indeed! And the tag says it's Phygelius aequalis – Yellow Trumpet.
According to http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/modzz/00002087.html), it is an annual plant, but I think it will be a perennial as I doubt that this was planted only this past spring. Anyway, for what it's worth, here's the comment from that website:
Phygelius aequalis
Height: 18 in Spacing: 18 in
Type: annual
Flowers: Yellow, pink
Comments: This tender perennial is best grown as an annual. The flowers are trumpet-shaped and borne in clusters at the stem tips. The plant requires a sunny exposure and a moist but well-drained soil. The plant is native to southern Africa.
Cultivars: 'Yellow Trumpet' - Yellow to greenish-yellow flowers are borne on bushy plants.
References for Cultivars: White Flower Farm 1999.
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The tag reads:
Phygelius aequalis – Yellow Trumpet
Although not strictly a climber, in most areas this sub-shrub is best grown on a south facing wall when it will grow much taller than if free-standing. Clusters of pendant tubular flowers open in summer and autumn.
Height and spread: 90 cm (3 ft) or more. [I think it grew to at least 1,2m tall and propagates so easily it actually feels like rather an invasive weed. Some of its extensions have grown behind the drainpipe and are really tough to get out of there. Any branch that touches the ground takes root very quickly and new leaves emerge within about a week.]
Position: Well-drained soil in sun.
Planting: Water thoroughly or stand container in water for an hour before planting. Plant in hole large enough to avoid disturbing root ball. Back-fill with soil previously mixed with peat substitute and a suitable fertilizer.
Plant care: Support with trellis if grown on a wall.
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Wikipedia has a good photograph, and an alternative name, i.e. "Cape fuchsia" (although it bears no relation to fuchsias): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phygelius_aequalis -- it's from the Scrophulariaceae, or figwort family.
On the Phygelius page of Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phygelius), this is what I found:
Phygelius (E. Mey.ex Benth.), Cape fuchsia, is a genus of the Scrophulariaceae family. The genus is native to southern Africa. The plants are adapted to surviving severe summer conditions. Phygelius is not related to the Fuchsia genus, in spite of the common name.
About fifteen cultivars are available for gardeners. Some are hybrids between the two known species. Development of the cultivars has taken place primarily in England in order to create varieties better fitted for the colder climate.
Species of Phygelius
There are currently two species in this genus:
Phygelius capensis, Cold hardy cape fuchsia.
Phygelius aequalis, "Yellow trumpet" (var).
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Peace!
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