8 great plants for wow!

Southern Living, Apr 2005 by Bender, Steve

Plant these right now for gorgeous color all summer.

Forgive me if this story seems a tad judgmental, but, aside from generating sacks of hate mail by insulting your pet ferret or trashing your alma mater's football team, giving plants the thumbs-up or thumbs-down is pretty much what I do. So it fills me with rapture to present these surefire winners. Each is inexpensive, easy to grow, and as gaudy as a Vegas show. So what are you waiting for?

1 Champion Rose

Hate to spray? Hate to prune? Hate to call Southern Living and ask what's wrong with your plant? Then try 'Knock Out' rose, the most acclaimed landscape rose of all time. It impresses people everywhere, never gets black spot, forms a tidy mound of handsome foliage, and blooms continuously from spring through fall. True, the single, cherry red flowers aren't good for cutting, but look at how many there are! Even if you can't enjoy them in bouquets, you sure can enjoy them outside. Plant 'Knock Out' rose in long sweeps, add it to a mixed border, or grow it in containers. Then give your sprayer the boot.

'Knock Out' Rose

Type: shrub

Size: 3 to 4 feet tall and wide

Light: full sun

Soil: moist, fertile, well drained

Spraying: Don't bother.

Water: thoroughly during warm, dry spells

Blooms: continuously in mild and warm weather

Range: throughout the South

2 Make a Wish

Think impatiens and caladiums are your only sources for color in shade? Then it's high time you tried wishbone flower (Toreniafournieri). Blooming from spring to autumn, its blossoms resemble miniature gloxinias with wishbones in their centers. I particularly like the spreading Summer Wave Hybrid wishbone flower, which looks great growing in hanging baskets and forms dense mats in flowerbeds. It takes more sun than other wishbone flowers and doesn't stop blooming when summer gets hot-another wish fulfilled.

Summer Wave Hybrid Wishbone Flower

Type: annual

Size: 8 to 10 inches tall, twice as wide

Light: shade or partial sun

Soil: moist, fertile, well drained

Flower colors: violet, blue, and magenta

Range: throughout the South

3 Jungle Love

The first time I saw 'Jungle Gold' impatiens in the garden of my colleague Charlie Thigpen, I considered sneaking over at night and stealing it. It's so cool-a yellow impatiens with flowers that look like orchids. Unlike dwarf forms of impatiens, this one becomes a stout little shrub with thick, upright stems. Clusters of butter yellow flowers with dark red markings inside stand tall atop glossy foliage. (What other shade plant gives that color in summer?) A bit slow to start flowering at first, 'Jungle Gold' takes off as the summer wears on. Plant a sweep in fertile soil, or grow it in a pot.

'Jungle Gold' Impatiens

Type: annual or frost-tender perennial

Size: 15 to 18 inches tall and wide

Light: shade

Soil: moist, well drained

Water: often during warm, dry weather

Range: throughout South

4 Flower Power

Dragon Wing Hybrid begonia requires a little bit of faith on your part. When you buy it in a 4-inch pot, it'll be all foliage and no flowers. But stick this plant in a flowerbed, hanging basket, or planter, and it will quickly blossom into a dense mound of lush, glossy leaves topped with red or pink blooms. True to its name, it loves summer's fiery weather. This plant won't stop blooming until an autumn freeze (and in the Tropical South, it'll never stop). Just give it moist, fertile, well-drained soil and filtered sun. It doesn't even have any serious pests for you to worry about. So just sit back, and enjoy the show.

Dragon Wing Hybrid Begonia

Type: annual or frost-tender perennial

Size: 12 to 15 inches tall, 18 inches wide

Light: filtered sun

Soil: moist, fertile, well drained

Range: throughout the South

5 Heavenly Hydrangeas

Southerners can't get enough of French hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla). We'd love for them to bloom, not just in summer, but through fall too. Three selections make the dream come true: 'Endless Summer,' 'All Summer Beauty,' and 'Penny Mac.' Each of these hydrangeas should bloom repeatedly until late fall, although they may need a year or two in the ground first. Their flowers will be blue in acid soil (below pH 7) and pink in alkaline soil (above pH 7).

French Hydrangea

Type: shrub

Size: 4 to 6 feet tall and wide

Light: morning sun, light shade in afternoon

Soil: moist, fertile, well drained

Water: likes lots of water during warm, dry weather

Range: Upper, Middle, Lower, and Coastal South

6 Black and Beautiful

If you really want people to notice your garden, plant something with enormous purplish-black leaves. The best candidate I know is 'Black Magic' elephant's ear (Colocasia esculenta 'Black Magic'). Growing from a tuber, this tropical-looking marvel sprouts an army of arrowhead-shaped leaves up to 3 feet long that are the color of night. Try combining it with yellow or orange flowers or with finely textured plants, such as ornamental grasses. Because it tolerates wet soil, you can plant it at the edge of a pond or in a pot that lacks a drainage hole.

'Black Magic' Elephant's Ear