Cigar Plant - Cuphea Ignea

I finally have a name to the plant!  I didn't plant this.  I have no idea how it got into my front weed garden, but it came back year after year.  Heck, I even pulled it up once, because it got too big and my husband didn't like the sticky flowers.  (He would walk by the plant and have the flowers stuck to his pants, hehe)

Even after cutting one side out, the roots migrated to another spot!  It still came back.  Persistant?  Most definitely.

So, when Kim and I went through a big renovation on the large section of the front garden, I said, "Don't touch this one."  It's doing great and I have a name for it, finally!  Cigar.

These plants are "subshrubs" that grow to about 3 feet in height.  I know for a fact that hummingbirds love this plant.  When the plant was really huge years ago, that's when I had hummingbirds.  The birds even suffered flying through the tall weeds to get to the Cigar plant!

The Cigar plant is native to Mexico, prefers bright sun but tolerates some shade (mine grew itself in a sunny part of the large section of the garden).  They like moisture but endure short dry spells.  And yes, they are perennial :)

Believe me when I say that it requires no attention.  Lack of attention.  Ignore it.  It will come back.  I don't know how it came to my garden, no clue, but I'm thrilled that it's still here!

I don't smoke, but I love this cigar!

Firecracker - Russelia

I love this plant!  It's vibrant and happy, but that wasn't always the case.  In fact, this was a 60 % off plant at Lowe's.  It had more brown than it did green, but I saw potential for what was living.  It seemed dry and I thought, "Hmm, maybe it just needs some good watering."  Don't turn up your nose at clearance plants... sometimes they really turn out lovely!

Firecracker plants also go by coral plant, fountain plants and coral blow.  The plant produces bright red tubular flowers that look like firecrackers.  The plant starts up tall and then hangs down with the weight of the blooms.  It would probably be great in a huge pot.

It likes well drained soil and needs to be fertilized regularly (something I need to take care of soon).  Preferring full sun or partial shade, this one is also located under the juniper tree.

Ah, here's a key - Water Regularly - don't let the soil dry out.  Shame on Lowe's, Lucky for me :)

Oh and it's easy to propagate from tip cuttings.  How neat is that?  I'd love to try that one time!

And!!!  It's another butterfly and hummingbird plant.  Woot!  I have so many butterfly plants.  That makes me happy.

Bee Balm

This is another one where I'm waiting patiently (or not so) for a bloom.  I didn't know what it was even.  Sue gave me this plant.  I asked her what this was and she said, "Bee Balm."  Kind of a scary name if you ask me.

It's the green, non-blooming, plant in the  middle of the picture.  The top, red blooms are firecracker plants, which I'll write more about in another post.

So, Bee Balm.  I did a google image search and - Oh My!  Bloom, please!  Looks like it will be wicked cool.  Sue said that it's going to be red if it blooms.  They bloom late summer, so I might still have a chance at a bloom.

Butterflies, hummingbirds and bees "covet the tubular flowers."  It also goes by:  Horsemint, wild bergamot and Oswego tea.  I thought at first it might be a mint, because of the leaves.

It will grow 2 to 4 feet tall and tolerates wet soil, but it's susceptible to powdery mildew disease and it can be invasive - taking over a garden.  Another one to keep an eye on.

Pro's:  Easy to care, low maintenance, multiples quickly, attracts the pretties.

It prefers full sun to light shade (it's located under the juniper tree and I have to wonder if it gets enough sun... looks green enough, so I guess it's ok).

Con:  Someone told me on Facebook that they grew bee balms and it never bloomed.  That's discouraging.  I'll stay hopeful.  If it blooms, I'll update this post.

UPDATE!!!  We have bloomage!!  Picture taken today after a nice afternoon rain.... bud just starting to bloom :)

The firecracker plant is just going crazy right now and the bee balm kind of disappears into the red, but here are some more shots.  If you look at the third picture, towards the bottom right, there's a second bee balm starting to bloom!!

Orange Bulbine

This came from Sue's garden.  She gave me an orange bulbine and garlic.  To me, the bulbine and garlic look the same.  So when a bud formed, I took a picture and posted it on Facebook, asking what it was.  Kim and Sue responded "Orange Bulbine."  I'm excited to see the actual bloom!

Orange bulbines bloom in the spring and summer.  And they are perennial - another Yeah!  They like well-drained to average soil and are drought tolerant once established.  Good to know.

Full sun, part sun, part shade - that's what it says they like - heck, that describes everything except for "full shade."  Sounds like a very agreeable plant!  Right up my alley.

Yet another butterfly attractor.  And bees, not as happy about that considering my husband is highly allergic.  It's supposed to be an easy plant to grow - again, Happy Me!

Here's the bud picture.  Once it blooms, I'll add another picture to this post.  (It bloomed - see next picture!)

The orange bulbine just bloomed! Delicate little orange flowers!  Love it!  Added some pictures below

Next picture is not a close up on the blooms.  The plant has grown a lot and has about 4 buds waiting to bloom.  (And you can see the blue-black salvia behind it)

Scabiosa Pincushion Flower for Butterflies

Scabiosa Pincushion plant - perennial - yeah!  It comes back every year.  It has a green base and will bloom with tall lavender flowers that look like pincushions.

I like that it's supposed to bloom spring, summer and fall :)  Kim taught me to look for flowers that bloom longer than just one season.  This plant also attracts butterflies too.  It seems my garden has more butterfly attractors than I first realized!

Deadheading is necessary to promote blooms.  The pincushion flower prefers well-drained soil in full sun.  It's intolerant of wet soils, so I worry how it will fair when we get tropic storms during the summer.  It grows to a height of 1 to 3 feet.  I'm looking forward to watching this one grow. :)

Ham and Eggs - breakfast in the garden with butterflies

Not literally ham and eggs.

Lantana is often called Ham & Eggs because of the yellow and pink/orange blooms.  They grow very well in Louisiana and are aggressive in the garden.  I'll have to keep an eye on this little guy.

All of the plants in my garden are small.  I wouldn't mind if this one gets a little bigger, as it's in an area where two other plants (transplanted morning glories) are struggling.  However, ham & eggs are a desert plant, found in dry regions.

My plant is in the small section of the front garden, which gets limited sun exposure and tends to stay damp.  For now, it appears to be healthy :)

I have read that they are easy to maintain (big plus).  They bloom from April until August.  And are freeze tolerant.  Just trim them down before the first frost.  They will become dormant, but will come back the next year.

Oh and they attract butterflies in the day and moths at night :)

Marigolds

Marigolds are cheerful and even though they are annual, they are great!  Kim found two sets of marigolds for me at Lowe's in the clearance section... for 65 cents.  65 cents, that's right.  How can you go wrong?

(One word about the clearance, the marigolds didn't look the healthiest, but what's the harm in a 65 cent attempt of a green thumb.)

She got three sets of them.  One set was planted in the small section in the front garden.  Because that section is mostly shade, those marigolds are struggling.

Marigolds are bright and cheerful and they want the sunshine.  The two in the larger section of the front garden are doing great.

Both of these marigolds have a strong scent.  If I deadhead the flowers with no gloves, my fingers smell like marigolds afterwards.

Marigolds prefer moderately fertile, well-drained soil; plant them once the soil is warm.

Farmers use marigolds because the scent of the marigold repels animals and insects... and the underground workings of the marigold will repel nematodes (microscopic worms) and other pests for up to 3 years.  Cool.  I didn't know about the underground workings aspect.


Quick update:  All three marigold bushes are doing well.  I call them bushes, because WOW have they grown!