European Gardening: FAVOURITE PLANT THIS WEEK, 0 by wallaby1

wallaby1 wrote:
ferrymead, the hairs do stand out in the pics, I'm not sure if I can see them with my eye. The camera has a better eye than me! I like to know all my plants names so I can refer to them correctly, or put them in PlantFiles, which I haven't done any of lately...winter job or I'm doing too many other things.

Pat they are the ones we generally see available, I had Raven a few years ago, it had a few flowers, returned weakly for a couple of years then disappeared. It didn't get enough sun, was in a bad place with a eucalyptus tree growing next to it. They are normally said not to be perennial here, it is recommended to take cuttings to grow over winter to keep them going, but these I have now have been in pots until this year. They have grown quite well, Vesuvius is one of a new Volcano series and looks strong so I have high hopes for it. Appleblossom was OK but not like Sour Grapes, it did really well. It is said to be fairly hardy, apart from that it flowers well.

I have grown some species Penstemon from seed, P. ovatus flowered this year and should b ehardy. P hirsutus pygmaeus I grew also, it has bulked up, seed sown last year and in the ground this June but no flowers yet. It's supposed to be short lived, I bought a plant in flower once and it didn't return. Another I grew from seed from Plant World just has a collection number and was collected high in the mountains of Chile I think, so should be good but it's still in pots waiting for ground space.

Sour Grapes for you rannveig, meant in a nice way!