Wendy's Wanderings
September 8, 2022
What Was Old is New Again
Have you ever noticed that sometimes certain plants fall out of fashion? But, much like high-waisted jeans or corky platform shoes, those plant styles seem to roll back around. I read in a fashion magazine that if you wore a miniskirt the first go 'round, you might be too old for that look again. This is why I prefer gardening magazines to Vogue any day. In the plant world everything old can be new again too. Plant breeders are making the most of the old-fashioned genetics to offer gardeners new cultivars.
Do you remember your grandmother's blue hydrangeas? Hydrangea macrophylla has been grown in gardens since the 1800s. The large mophead or lace cap varieties bloomed just once a year but added a beautiful effect to cottage gardens. Fast forward to 2022 and you will find reblooming hydrangeas that have blue, pink, and purple flowers on and off all year long. They are definitely not your grandma's hydrangeas anymore. Even our native oak leaf hydrangeas have beautiful, improved cultivars to choose from. If you need tips for growing hydrangeas this article, How to Succeed with Hydrangeas, from Daniel Leonard will guide you.
A very nostalgic plant for me is four o'clocks (Mirabilis jalapa). This plant has been in cultivation for hundreds of years. My grandmother grew the hot pink ones, my mom grew them too, and my sister and I still grow them in our gardens. It is hard to walk by this passalong plant without thinking about family. If you look in the seed catalogs now you will see different cultivars of four o'clocks with interesting colors of flowers and leaves. Mirabilis jalapa grows as a perennial in Florida. The flowers can be magenta, pink, yellow, or white. Their trumpet-shaped flowers open in the evening (sometime after 4 p.m.) and attract hummingbirds and moths.
Once there were altheas (or Rose of Sharon) in almost every suburban landscape in Central and North Florida. Slowly they were replaced by other flowering shrubs. But we are seeing a resurgence of this cold-hardy hibiscus relative. Althea (Hibiscus syriacus) is cold hardy to zone 5b and grows to 15 feet tall, making it a great choice for small yards. It blooms thoughout the summer months in a variety of colors and cultivars. The single or double flowers are in shades of pink, white, and purple, depending on the cultivar. Individual flowers stay open for one day and close at night. They require minimal pruning since the plant grows slowly and keeps a tight upright form. Learn more in this Ask IFAS publication, Hibiscus syriacus: Rose-of-Sharon.
An old-fashioned blooming annual is the geranium. Grown for generations for their red, pink, and white blooms, the trick to growing geraniums well is timing. I have heard them described as transitional annuals because they don't like the cold winter temperatures and really struggle in the heat of the summer. Cool spring and fall seasons are their best time to shine. There are quite a few scented geranium selections to try now. Look for varieties that smell like mint, rose, lemon, or cinnamon. Even the standard geraniums have a nice scent to their leaves. In fact, during Victorian times people would float the leaves in small bowls of water to cleanse their hands before eating.
Thank goodness the plant breeders of the world will keep recycling our old favorites to give us "new" plants to buy and try. Like Crocs and bell-bottomed jeans, give some of these re-run plant styles another try. If you plant what you like, it will never really go out of style. But you can be sure that I will not be trading in my gardening boots for go-go boots any time soon.
-- Wendy Wilber