My favorite flower - it's a magic word!
by Evelyn Alemanni
Over the past nine years, more than 8,000 people have toured my garden when I had it open for a variety of fundraisers. The most frequently asked question (besides "where's the bathroom") is "what is your favorite flower?" People ask this because, in the spring, my garden is a massive display of flowers - roses, nasturtiums, alyssum, freesias, anemones, narcissus, daffodils, blooming trees and shrubs, blooming succulents, acres of wildflowers and much more .... heck, even the dog wears a rose on her collar.
My smug answer to this question used to be, "Whatever's blooming today." And that was true, until this year. Last summer, my husband and I visited the world-famous Butchart Gardens
in Victoria, BC, Canada. What a marvelous experience! It is a plant lover's dream with its marvelously choreographed blooms, fragrant flowering beds, color-themed trees and shrubs, and stunning hanging baskets.
A visit to a public garden isn't complete without purchasing some memorabilia, best case, plants or seeds. So we headed to the gift shop where I purchased a few seed packs. One of them was called "Hanging Basket Mix". Included in this mix was Schizanthus - common name, Poor Man's Orchid or Butterfly Flower. I planted the seeds in my little greenhouse last last fall, and they germinated - ALL OF THEM!!!!! Nice ferny foliage gave way to small flowers in early April. The flowering stalks lengthened and turned into masses of delicate blossoms in colors ranging from white to pink, rose, apricot, and purple, with amazing markings. I accidentally broke off a flowering stalk, so put it in a vase to continue admiring it... it lasted two weeks in a vase!
Schizanthus - it sounds like a word used to conjure magic - like Abra Kadabra. The seeds of this flower do just that - they conjure florific magic. Say the word three times, plant the seeds, and prepare to be amazed.
Photos by Evelyn Alemanni.
Over the past nine years, more than 8,000 people have toured my garden when I had it open for a variety of fundraisers. The most frequently asked question (besides "where's the bathroom") is "what is your favorite flower?" People ask this because, in the spring, my garden is a massive display of flowers - roses, nasturtiums, alyssum, freesias, anemones, narcissus, daffodils, blooming trees and shrubs, blooming succulents, acres of wildflowers and much more .... heck, even the dog wears a rose on her collar.
My smug answer to this question used to be, "Whatever's blooming today." And that was true, until this year. Last summer, my husband and I visited the world-famous Butchart Gardens
in Victoria, BC, Canada. What a marvelous experience! It is a plant lover's dream with its marvelously choreographed blooms, fragrant flowering beds, color-themed trees and shrubs, and stunning hanging baskets.
A visit to a public garden isn't complete without purchasing some memorabilia, best case, plants or seeds. So we headed to the gift shop where I purchased a few seed packs. One of them was called "Hanging Basket Mix". Included in this mix was Schizanthus - common name, Poor Man's Orchid or Butterfly Flower. I planted the seeds in my little greenhouse last last fall, and they germinated - ALL OF THEM!!!!! Nice ferny foliage gave way to small flowers in early April. The flowering stalks lengthened and turned into masses of delicate blossoms in colors ranging from white to pink, rose, apricot, and purple, with amazing markings. I accidentally broke off a flowering stalk, so put it in a vase to continue admiring it... it lasted two weeks in a vase!
Schizanthus - it sounds like a word used to conjure magic - like Abra Kadabra. The seeds of this flower do just that - they conjure florific magic. Say the word three times, plant the seeds, and prepare to be amazed.
Photos by Evelyn Alemanni.
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