Victoria County Master         Gardener Association

FIREWORKS IN THE GARDEN

Celebrate with red, white and blue in your landscape

July 04, 2014

By Charla Borchers Leon/Victoria County Master Gardener

PHOTOS BY CHARLA BORCHERS LEON/VICTORIA COUNTY MASTER GARDENER

This grouping consists of red salvia, blue daze and the prominent white fan flower and resembles bursting firecracker sparklers low to the ground in red, white and blue fashion.

The bursting firecracker fern explodes in red, tubular blooms that attract butterflies and hummingbirds spring through late fall. In full sun at poolside, it is relatively maintenance-free as long as its spreading nature is kept in tact in the landscape.

The blue torenia in this hanging basket of red begonia and variegated ivy stand up as if to announce the occasion by bugle in the garden with fireworks.

The dwarf white penta opens with bursting stars alongside blue torenia and (inset) red ruellia bugle-like flowers in this planted bed of red, white and blue color. All thrive in bright light with routine watering with the torenia needing a bit of shade from direct sun.

A patriotic sitting area is shown under a pavilion late in the day with a display of outdoor art and red, white and blue plantings. Red mandevilla, blue spike salvia and silver falls dichondra fill the small trellis container on the right of the bench. Diamond frost euphorbia planted in the small flag planter on the bench along with strapleaf caladiums with blue torenia in the star planter on the left boast patriotic color. 

Today is a firecracker day - July Fourth. It is a summer day originally intended to celebrate America's declaration of independence from Great Britain.

It is a red, white and blue day now associated with parades, barbecues and outdoor festivities with family and friends, fanfare with political speeches and ceremonies - and a good deal more. It is also a day with observances, fireworks and displays of patriotism in cities, towns, communities - and in gardens.

Let's envision the fireworks of tonight - but in a sunlit garden today.

In my landscape of traditional red, white and blue, there are intentional and various combinations of plants in the patriotic trio.

"Old glory" containers are filled with peppermint stripe and red frill caladiums mixed with blue torenia. A small trellis contains red mandevilla, silver falls dichondra and blue spike salvia.

Groupings consist of symbolic flag planters with diamond mist euphorbia positioned with blue pots of white fan flower and red salvia. A bed is planted with red ruellia, white angelonia and blue daze.

Significant in name, a firecracker fern explodes in red bloom. White penta blooms burst open like uplifted, shining stars. Victoria blue salvia shoots up like Roman candle fireworks. Red ruellia flowers, along with those of the blue torenia, resemble bugles that rise up and announce the occasion while the white fan flower reminisces hand-held sparklers closer to the ground. The garden symbolically displays the day's significance and the night's fireworks.

Red

• Firecracker fern

An evergreen, drought-tolerant perennial plant that is not a fern at all, the firecracker fern does arch and droop like a fern with a burst of delicate, tubular red blooms in the spring through late fall that pop out from its bract-like foliage to attract flittering butterflies and hummingbirds. Native to Mexico, it thrives in both full sun and partial shade and is basically maintenance-free in South Texas.

• Ruellia

With trumpet-shaped bright red flowers that flare from late spring until frost, the blooms of the ruellia plant sound out on 2-foot arching stems in whimsical airy foliage. Native to Brazil and kin to the Mexican petunia, it works well as a border plant as ground cover and in massive planting and equally as well in containers and in xeriscape landscaping. At its best in full sun, it is a fast grower that blasts the call to pollinators.

White

• Penta

Originally from Africa, pentas have been popular summer choices here for years. They exist in both regular and dwarf sizes and appear in white, red and lavender-pink. They are ideal for both flower beds and container planting and need regular watering with good drainage. Shiny, deep green foliage provides a distinct contrast to star-shaped tubular white clusters from late spring to fall, shooting up and out like stars that offer nectar.

• Fan flower

The fan flower is a drought-tolerant, simple-to-grow tropical perennial with evergreen foliage and showy fan-shaped white (pink or blue-purple) flowers that bloom throughout spring and summer. The plant grows quickly, hugging the soil as ground cover as well as in containers. Native to the sand dunes of Australia, it prefers a sunny location and does well in window boxes and hanging baskets because its long tendrils cascade to make a full and showy display like a sparkler on a firecracker evening in July.

Blue

• Victoria salvia

With a true blue fuzzy appearance, the Texas native commonly known as "mealy-cup sage," Victoria blue salvia, shoots up like a lit Roman candle firecracker with 8- to 10-inch flower spikes on 18- to 24-inch-tall and wide plants. Grown in sunny locations, this annual is drought-tolerant and can be massed together to form a sea of blue. Also attracting bees, butterflies and hummers, it is contrarily a deer-resistant plant.

• Torenia

The torenia, especially the blue Summer Wave series, prefers partial shade with scheduled watering in hot locations and can handle humidity better than its counterpart varieties. It is often planted in hanging baskets, containers and as an underplanting with a larger plant in a container. A profuse bloomer from early spring through fall, its bugle-shaped blooms stand up as if to call hummingbirds and turn away deer. Like the sound of brass reveling through the air announcing a declaration, the torenia independently requires little maintenance.

Each of these plants thrives in the current blast of heat and separate or together, can provide fireworks for your garden throughout the summer.

Friday may be a firecracker day, but make it a day to observe and remember the sacrifices made by our forefathers to declare our country free. Let us also not forget that freedom is never free.

The Gardeners' Dirt is written by members of the Victoria County Master Gardener Association, an educational outreach of Texas AgriLife Extension - Victoria County. Mail your questions in care of the Advocate, P.O. Box 1518, Victoria, TX 77901; or vcmga@vicad.com, or comment on this column at VictoriaAdvocate.com.





RED, WHITE AND BLUE PLANTS FOR THE GARDEN

Summer season

• Red or white strapleaf caladiums

• Red hot Sally or Victoria blue salvia

• Red firecracker fern

• Red or white pentas

• Red or white geraniums

• Red, white or blue wave petunias

• Red begonias

• Red or white purslane

• Red mandevilla

• Red ruellia

• Red or white dwarf hibiscus

• White gaura

• White cat's whiskers

• White diamond frost euphorbia

• White fan flower

• White vinca

• White zinnias

• White Confederate jasmine vine

• White with red bleeding heart vine

• Blue or white agapanthus

• Blue or white angelonia

• Blue torenia

• Blue plumbago

• Blue daze

• Blue morning glory vine

Note: All have been planted through the years in the traditional patriotic landscape of Master Gardener Charla Borchers Leon.

WANT TO BECOME A MASTER GARDENER?

• Announcing the 2014 Fall Master Gardener training class

• Every Thursday 1-5 p.m. Aug. 7-Nov. 20

Applications available at vcmga.org, or by calling 361-575-4581.

• Registration deadline: July 17

•  Read more about it in next week's column.