Thursday, September 10, 2009

Do You Have One Too?

A showstopper in your garden? I do, and it's a real winner in my eyes. It even flowers in August, the month when most gardeners complain that not a lot is going on, flower wise. Well this little gem does and how, so yours truly hasn't been complaining about August being dull and bloom less, not a bit of it.
This wonderful plant started flowering in June, it's still going strong in September and it will be flowering till the first frosts. This little gem flowers not only over a long period but with gay abandon too. It's delicate flowers are set on green magic wands and look like little white butterflies fluttering in the breeze. Here my charming assistant Dolly Daisy is showing just how big this plant actually is.
And it's just one single plant and, although I hate to brag (who am I kidding, I love to brag about all things horticultural), I've sown it myself earlier last year and it was easy, very easy indeed.
It's said not to be quite hardy but as it has survived last Winter's frost of minus 15 C it looks like it's tough as the proverbial pair of old boots IMO.

Although its flowers are white, there is a bit of pink at the back of the flower and its buds are pink too. The name of this super star? Well, Gaura lindheimeri of course.
There are pink versions of it as well, above Gaura lindheimeri Siskiyou Pink is shown but there's also Pretty in Pink. Don't expect your Gaura to become quite as big as mine, as mine is grown in heavy clay. The advice is to bung in 5 to 7 plants per square meter, that mine is on its own filling up almost 2 square meters, is the exception rather than the rule. But what else could you expect from a garden called Bliss? ;-)
Gaura lindheimeri Cherry Brandy

But for all of you poor souls who don't garden at Bliss; Gaura's are quite drought and heat tolerant and do well in sunny spots and in partial shade too. (For my American garden friends, this plant does well in USDA zones 5 to 10.)

So if you haven't already got one or two of these wonderful plants growing away like there is no tomorrow in your garden, I expect your face does look quite red now. ;-) Never mind, go buy a few, or buy a packet of seeds or get a few cuttings/seedlings from your far more knowledgeable garden buddies.

But before I sign off, tell me, do you have a September showstopper in your garden too?

copyright 2009 Y.E.W. Heuzen

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have seen Gaura at the nursery but never felt compelled to buy it. You may have changed my mind.

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

I have too guaras: one ornage that blooms in early summer and a pink one like yours that's been blooming since I bought it in late July. I have so very many plants and colors and shapes and sizes, I wouldn't say any one is a showstopper from a distance. Many are in their season or as one walks through. A series of oohs and ahhs, I like to think! :)

Lisa at Greenbow said...

I have killed several gauras so they aren't my favorite plants. I do love to see them. My show stopper this month is Solidago 'Fireworks'. It is indeed exciting.

Gail said...

Hi Yolanda E. I love gaura...I've planted it all over the garden to see if it will survive here! So far it's been happy in two spots! It has a habit of dying during our wet winters so many gardening friends have given it up! Show stoppers! The Susans are still colorful, but soon, it will be native asters. gail

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

HA! I completely forgot about my beautyberry, which is (as yet) planted in its own bed. It's very nondescript most of the year, but when it gets its vibrant fuchsia-purple berries in a month or so, it IS a show-stopper. :)

Cat with a Garden said...

We're impressed! Our mom has deaded three Gauras already and says they just won't grow here. Yours looks truly stunning! Our showstopper is the good old Rudbeckia. It's been going on and on and on and is only now beginning to slow down.
Purrs from your feline friends Siena & Chilli.

Chloe m said...

Love your Gaura, and your cat as well.
Showstopper in my garden, My lilies this year were amazing!
Rosey

nikkipolani said...

They are a lovely flower, Yolanda. Mine reseeds quite freely -- there's even one who wants to stand with the boxwood hedge.

Carol said...

Yolanda your photos are as lovely as your gaura plant and the kitty is a terrific tour guide for telling size and such. I cannot claim any beauty of your standing in my garden today ... but the tree hydrangea and asters are making quite a display. I will have to inquire about this gaura and perhaps it will find its way here too someday.

Katarina said...

Be proud of your Gaura, Yolanda - I would have been if I'd sewn it and tended for it. It looks great! Wish I had one of those...
Have a nice weekend!
Katarina

Annie in Austin said...

Your gaura looks wonderful, Yolanda - really healthy and beautiful. All three of my plants are alive, but sure not showstoppers.
Now I'm happy for you, kiddo, but it kinda cheeses me off is that the *&#%@ gaura started off as a Central Texas Native Plant!
When even the native plants would rather live in Holland than Austin, you know it's been a bad summer!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

TYRA Hallsénius Lindhe said...

Lovely post Yolanda, I like you beautiful showstopper. I guess mine is the Dahlia Thomas Edison it is stunning this year and has been for a month now!

Have a great weekend and hug Tara from me/ Tyra

emmat said...

How very well trained Dolly Daisy is!

I love gaura, such a low-key, delicate but beautiful plant, and where you have planted it, it really catches the eye.

I think my show-stopper remains Lobelia tupa, which has been throwing up huge and wonderful flower spikes all summer. I cannot tell you how glad I am to finally have a clump of this stunner.

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

Gauras will grow here in Northern Illinois, but they aren't long lived. I've grown both 'Corrie's Gold' and 'Siskiyou Pink' but they are no more than a memory now. I hope it's longer lived for you. Yours is a magnificient specimen.
My showstopper plant for September is, and always was, and probably always will be (whether I want it to be or not) Japanese Anemone.

Tira said...

Those Gauras are so lovely-I could try some seed. Your header photo is wonderful.

Green thumb said...

I will have to get a Gaura, with some heavy clay, a generous measure of hypo-mania, oodles of confidence and a blissful dose of optimism, may be then my Gaura's will be as big as yours!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Yolanda girl ! That was beautiful !
I don't have this plant right now .. but you have me thinking I might just have to find a spot for it here : ) .. it is a beautiful show stopper for sure !
Joy

Cindy, MCOK said...

Gaura is a reliable reseeder and bloomer in my garden, too! I didn't know Houston and Holland had anything in common!

Rusty in Miami said...

My showstopper is my night bloomer, it blooms from May to October during the hottest months of the year, and this year has been the best so far. Your showstopper is beautiful.

Karla Kotelett said...

Yolanda, meine Mama hat keine Gauras mehr, sie wurden ihr viiiel zu groß in den kleinen Beeten. Bei dir sieht das ganz toll aus!

Karla

SchneiderHein 2 said...

Das sie so eine traumhaft üppige Staude sein könnte, hätte ich nie erwartet. Oft gepflanzt, aber meist überlebten die zierlichen Pflänzchen trotz umsteckten Reisig leider nicht den Winter oder verschwanden dann bald darauf. Egal ob weiß oder rosa. Aber so einen schönen freien Platz kann ich ihnen auch nicht mehr bieten.

Dafür haben sich jetzt die Bartblumen - Caryopteris prima entwickelt, so dass sie unser Highlight am Teich sind. Und am Wiesenrand ist es die blau-violette krautige Waldrebe.
Liebe Grüße
Silke

guild-rez said...

Yolanda,
I planted two Gauras in the garden, pretty white flowers and lots of insects visiting the plant.
Let's see if they survive our winter and come back next spring.
Lovely pictures and great post,
Gisela

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Corner Gardener Sue said...

I had to reply here, too. I have a couple gaurias I enjoy, too. One I've had a few years, and the other, a pink one, I bought as an annual, but it may live over the winter, as it is listed as a zone 6 perennial, and I am in 5b, in Nebraska, U.S. Yours looks quite happy where it is. Mine have more crowded conditions.

As for show stoppers, I'm thinking fireworks goldenrod.

healingmagichands said...

I do have a showstopper, actually a couple of them. My autumn asters are really putting on a show right now. Thanks for the inspiration. . . http://healingmagichands.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/powered-by-cake/

Babara said...

I agree with you, gauras should be in every garden. Imagine, mine are still blooming now in October !!! And everytime they do not survive our winters I go and buy a new one in Spring (but sometimes they bloom again after strong winters....in heavy clay soil too).