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<\/a><\/p>\nThe eggplant-colored beauty is Pseuderanthemum ‘Black Varnish.’ I ordered this from Kartuz Greenhouses<\/a> last fall, very poor timing to bring this heat lover on board even in Zone 10, and it slipped away over the winter. I think these “repurchases” go in an entirely separate category of commerce, more akin to honoring a commitment, even if repeatedly at full price. The ‘Mojito’ colocasia was a good bargain in a gallon. Nuff said there.<\/p>\n The firecracker plant, Russelia equisitiformis ‘Yellow,’ is new to me, and I’m completely smitten with its spilling, horsetailish ways and tiny, pale yellow, phygelius-like blooms. Hopefully, a better photo soon, this one being purely illustrative of its growth habit. Morning sun and afternoon shade will suit all three newcomers. <\/p>\n An overgrown Helichrysum petiolare was pulled out of the large pot it shared with a little manihot tree, whose trunk is visible in the above photos. Kept the manihot, improved the soil, and added the new tropicals. Typical of manihots, its leaves are several feet out of frame, sprouting at the very top of its 5-foot trunk.<\/p>\n At the nursery, something strange happened as I walked briskly past the tables full of summer annuals. <\/p>\n Meet Petunias ‘Phantom’ and ‘Pinstripe.’ So incredibly velvety. Now, I’m definitely not a plant snob, but I just haven’t felt the need to bring a petunia home in, oh, 20 years or so. Chalk it up to mid-summer plant madness, or maybe I was mesmerized by that Joker pinwheel, unhinged by the splashy colocasia, or just plain succumbed to how smashing all these plants looked together in the nursery basket. But I think these oddities deserve — no, require<\/em> — a pot to themselves. Perhaps in an out-of-the way corner.<\/big><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Just wanted a quick outing, a bit of plant gawking after a week of far too much sitting. But the flesh, as usual, was weak. Too many mid-summer temptations at the nursery. The eggplant-colored beauty is Pseuderanthemum ‘Black Varnish.’ I … Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n