I just bought one of these and could use some help about what conditions it needs.
I am 40 miles north of Houston..
Can this plant take full TEXAS sun and will it overwinter outside..? We get some freezes here..
Thanks,
Scutellaria javanica Veranda
Congratulations on getting this neat plant.
I kept one in full summer sun when I first got it. The leaves didn't like it. Moved it into bright filtered light ( with morning sun) and it did well. It takes a fair amount of water in summer although I keep mine in a pot. Are you planting it in ground?
It bloomed even into Dec on an enclosed porch. It will not overwinter outdoors. It will produce seed pods and although I saved seeds, I have not started this plant from seeds.
May I ask where you located it? It is beautiful and I am sure you will enjoy it.
...and when you are "hooked" on the Scutellarias, here is another one to look for. : )
Texas Rose ~ Scutellaria suffrutescens
Enjoy! pod
http://davesgarden.com/journal/j/si/118638/ Summer
http://davesgarden.com/journal/j/si/118641/ Winter ~ notice the blooms turned a purple...
Pod,
Thank you so much for your information..
Altho I swore I was finished dragging plants in and out in the winter, I will probably put him in a pot ..
Yours is so pretty..thanks for the pictures...I'll keep my eye out for Texas Rose if this one does well..
Lynn
Texas Rose is a tiny plant. The leaves are small and the blooms are cheerful and prolific. I love the colors on both of these skullcaps.
Very Pretty..
Does it take the same conditions?
My computer is trying to go south. Let me try this again.
This link for this S. suffrutescens ~ Texas rose indicates that it will be winter hardy. I'm not sure that I won't provide protection in this zone as long as I keep it in a pot. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/51664/index.html
The S. javanica on the other hand looks like it is far more tender or an unknown quantity. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/73207/index.html
I find I have a *weakness* for the skullcaps.... They are delightful! : )) pod
They are wonderful plants. Constant bloomers and even in winter, they don't entirely die down. I didn't notice my scuffrutescens change color. Humm. Is your plant well established? Maybe I am mixed up with latin names.I don't have H. Garret' book with me to check on the name of the "purple one."
Suffrutescens change color? Mine hasn't... The S. javanica darkened when the days grew shorter and I moved it indoors. That may have been the link you saw.
Mine went into a pot yesterday and I ran out several times to check on him..he looks good..
I really like container gardening..If one spot doesn't work just move the pot somewhere else..
Of course its my sweet husband who is doing the moving.
Bananna 18,
Do you leave yours out all year? and it doesn't entirely die down?
Lynn
I was confused. (Didn't think white wine was so strong!)The plant that you showed was blue and changed to purple? That is S. javanica, right? I think the plant I have is S.Scuffrutescens.Definitely can survive the winter.I have never had it in a pot.I won't say it looks great, but there are still some green.
Princessnonie ~ summer is winding down... How did you enjoy your S. javanica?
I have the Tx rose scutteleria on the east side of the house, but it doesn't get much am sun either because of trees across the street. Like the lavendar, I don't water it and it does great. I don't give it winter protection either. It just sits there a quietly does it's thing all year.:) I planted some more in shadier spots to see how it would do. so far it's very spindly, so I may have to move it. One spot is at the drip edge of a huge pecan tree, but it gets shade also from a live oak. The other one gets a little more sun, but not much. I'll give it another year.
My S. suffruttescens Texas rose is getting spindly too. I have cut it back once. Amazingly, it has given sporadic blooms all summer. I like the skullcap plants a lot.
I, too, am a big fan of the Pink Texas scullcap!
May I say ~ WOW! I can see why! Very nice plant Broncbuster.
If I am not mistaken this is the bloom on the S. javanica Veranda...
I hope Princessnonie will confirm.
I had the Veranda last year. Very pretty, but it didn't come back last spring. :(
pbtxlady,is that the blue skullcap in the trade?
No, it's not. The one I have this year is a lighter blue and blooms much earlier. I didn't get Latin names for either of them, but they were different. Last year's was a dark indigo blue and looked just like the picture above. It bloomed profusely in Sept-October. This year's bloomed back in June, a lighter blue. It'll be interesting to see if it's hardier.
It's possible Patricia (Patrob) might have a piece of the one from last year. I didn't get to go to the RU, so I mailed her what I had started for her. Most things got crushed, but I think she said the skullcap made it. She has a GH, so she might still have it.
Neither of them have grown or bloomed anything like my Texas pinks. I sure wish they did.
Yes,I love the pink one too. I had the purple one, S. drummondii. That one made it through the winter once but I killed it with an overconfident transplant. I am looking to replace it. http://www.wildflower.org I was just curious about the blue....don't need to have it.
This message was edited Sep 23, 2007 6:07 AM
http://www.wildflower.org/gallery/species.php?id_plant=SCDR2
Here is the proper picture!
Pbtxlady ~ you confirmed my suspicion that S. Veranda is not cold hardy. Last year I brought mine in just in case because I loved it. Glad I did for that reason ~ as well as enjoying its' blooms late into the year.
I would love to know which one you had that bloomed earlier this year?
I've not grown S. drummondii but am hoping S. resinosa will do in this area.
I have these blues which have pretty foliage but as usual, small blooms. Seeds were S. altissima, S. altissima Violet and S. baicalensis. All looked exactly the same! One of the blooms below...
Okay, I looked and did fidn a tag for the skullcap I have now. It's "Blue Tonic." Doesn't say if it's hardy in this zone.
Here's a scan of the tag. But, mine was not either as dark or as purple as this picture. The color was more like this one from the PF. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/10775/
This message was edited Sep 23, 2007 1:48 PM
Pbtx ~ that is very pretty. It almost resembles one I picked up one called Bluebird ~ a hybrid as it doesn't reseed. Did you notice if it produces seed?
No, I didn't notice. I'm not too good with seeds, so I usually concentrate more on cuttings. The tag says it spreads slowly, but I dug up an offset for someone. I'm trying to get a cutting started for Kim--would you like for me to do one for you too?
Here are my Texas pinks. This is two plants, 3 years old. Pardon our construction mess in the photo! Several reasons for it, but one is that these guys got big and covered my little pathway.
Oh, wow, that is very pretty too. Looks a lot more like my Blue Tonic than the picture on the tag. Is that a photo of it now?
Those are some pretty tall flower stalks. I don't think mine were that tall on the Blue Tonic. I know they weren't on the Veranda (or whatever I had last year).
My Veranda stalks weren't that tall but this is a more upright blooming skullcap. I am so glad to find many others grow and enjoy them too.
Pod,
Sorry to have taken forever to reply to your question.. Havn't done any gardening in about 2 months or more due to the mosquitos and heat..
But about the s.javanica..the color looks the same and it is a lovely plant.. mine has required almost no care and has bloomed and bloomed..I'll be bringing it in in winter.
Apparently I neglected to take it's picture or add it to my plant journal..Darn..
Lynn
You know, I am amazed... mine seemed to be a bit stressed from the heat and all the watering I had to do this summer but the weather cooled and it is going crazy! I love it....
I am glad yours has done well for you. I think next year, I need to locate mine in early morning sun and evening shade. May make it feel better... 8 )
This message was edited Sep 27, 2007 6:22 AM
I just had to let y'all know that my blue skullcap made a liar of me. It's blooming again.
:) Picture tomorrow.
This message was edited Oct 3, 2007 7:37 PM
Looking forward to it. Mine is blooming like mad! I love it!
Gorgeous! Aren't they just so cute?
I love them and am gratified to know this is my 2nd summer with the plant.
Oh, Pod, I meant to ask, do you think that evening sun is hard for them? I'm really wondering. My pink ones need full sun, or as much sun as they can get, so I sorta assumed the blue ones would too. Mine don't get full sun, but they get the full blast of the afternoon, from about noon until 5:30 or 6:00. The only thing that seems to bother them is the freezing winters.
Either way, I think I'm planting mine next year in pots. They're easier to move around and overwinter.
No ~ this guy gets full afternoon sun and doesn't seem to mind with adequate water. By evening the trees are casting shadows. It does seem to want more water that the Texas rose Scute does tho...
Oh--LOL--you mean the pink ones. I can't say I had much to do with that. They just grow, despite me. And they got so big that they covered up my little walkway. And then the Katie ruellias moved in, and the golden carpet sedum--and the nutgrass (ick). It all got a little out of hand.
The reason we have all that mess is that, in July, we had a contractor out to replace our old decaying wood retaining wall with a stone one. It was a huge fiasco, and we ended up with a mountain of garbage-filled, very bad soil spread a foot deep all over our lawn. Did a huge amount of damage. But, since they killed the grass, I decided that I might as well take the chance to redo it the way I wanted to. There's a tiny little pond just to the side in one of those photos. I've always regretted that I didn't make the pond bigger. So now I can, and the path will go off farther to the side, and the whole area will be perennials instead of grass. And then the pink skullcap can grow wherever it wants to go. :)
Here's a photo of the blooms on my Blue Tonic.
Pbtxlady ~ have you noticed Blue Tonic seeds?
No, I haven't paid attention. But if you want some, I can sure watch this blossom.
Wouldn't you rather have a cutting, though? I'm going to take one for myself and try to keep it growing over the winter in my kitchen. I will be glad to do one for you too. It'll be small, because I've already taken several (for the plant swap), and the plant isn't very big to start with. But they seem to grow pretty fast.
Maybe we could all do something like that. A little scutellaria cuttings trade. I don't know how to propagate the pink ones, though.
Most of my Scutes were started from seed. I have noticed a couple that I purchased don't produce seed and I was just curious about yours. I have never done cuttings on these. I just thought the best way would be plant division when large enough. Tell me how you have done yours?