Colocasia esculenta 'Mojito'

I believe the first time I saw Colocasia esculenta 'Mojito' was at the Independent Garden Center Show in the booth my Hort Couture Plants a couple of years ago. Since then I've seen it at the Mid-America Horticultural Trade Show and most recently being sold by the Duth bulb sellers at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show. Perhaps it was the lighting, setting or maybe the growing conditions the plant had been endured, but I wasn't ever really impressed by 'Mojito.' Elephant ear plants are interesting and beautiful in their own right and I didn't really see what this new elephant ear plant had to offer to the average home gardener that grows these to provide a tropical flair to the garden.

Four O' Clock Flower Tubers

The Four o’clock success in the garden continued this month when I was digging around the garden and discovered the Four o’clock tubers. I went from harvesting four o’clock seeds that I couldn’t germinate, to having a successful germination rate this year and even four o'clock blooms. In a previous post a garden commented that propagating four o’clocks vegetatively was easier than growing them from seeds and the reason I searched for these tubers in the garden.

Ornamental Sweet Potato Vine Propagation

Ornamental sweet potato vine, Ipomoea batatas, are regular fixtures in many gardens and public plantings all over. Their drought tolerant nature make them ideal low-maintenance plants, perfect for container gardens, hanging baskets and mass planting in beds. Ornamental sweet potato vines are grown mostly for their foliage, but I really enjoy their flowers. Especially the flowers of sweet potato cultivars like 'Blackie.'

 

Four O' Clock Flowers

In the post on how to collect Four O' Clock flower seeds I mentioned how I haven't had much luck getting four O' Clock seeds to germinate for me in my garden. I'm happy to report that after a few years of trying, the garden gods decided to smile upon me. Behold, two Four O' Clock flowers from my garden.

Ornamental Sweet Potato Vine Roots

On the other blog I wrote an entry on how to root ornamental sweet potato vine cuttings and in this one I posted pictures of my sweet potato vine tubers after I lifted them to store them for the winter. If you're looking to root sweet potato vines or store the tubers visit the links right above

Storing Sweet Potato Vine Tubers

I'll be storing sweet potato vine tubers that I purchased this year for the first time. If you're interested previously I've posted a photo of my ornamental sweet potato vine flower (really beautiful flower IMO) and on my other gardening blog I've posted on how to root sweet potato vine cuttings. You can visit both of those links for pictures and information if you're interested. This post will be about storing sweet potato vine tubers for the winter and my experience with this plant.

Growing Elephant Ear Plants In Chicago

Elephant ear plants are herbaceous plants in zone 8 and above. In gardening zones that are colder they are treated as annuals and the corms lifted out of the ground and stored in a cool dry location like the basement of a home. Many gardeners grow these plants because the large foliage, that resemble the ears of an Elephant, help create a garden with a tropical feel.

When I Collect Climbing Lily Seeds

After your exotic Climbing Lily flower (see link for flower photo) fades you'll see an interesting seed pod develop. The seed pod that a Gloriosa Lilies will produce isn't as colorful or exotic looking as the flower but still is interesting to watch as it develops seeds. Withing a few weeks your seed pod will starting splitting at the bottom exposing round tomato-like fruits that contain the seeds you're looking for if you want to propagate by seeds.

Ipomoea batatas 'Blackie'

Probably the most common plants used in planters in the Chicago area has to be these ornamental sweet potato vines. You can find the chartreuse colored vine and this darker form growing in all parts of the city in the planters the city maintains. They spill over planters or are used as ground covers to great effect. My favorite is the two common ones you see is "blackie" even though it has a politically incorrect common name I love the dark foliage. I have one planted with my "black" calla lily and oxalis.

Climbing Lily Flower

This is my second year growing these plants and two of them have just started to bloom in the container garden. Last year I planted one of the tubers in the ground and cut it when I was going to pull it up at the end of summer, I decided to plant them in containers this year to minimize the chance of damaging them when I lift them.

Gloriosa superba 'Rothschildiana'

I grew this plant for the first time this past spring and fell in love with them because of the unusually shaped flowers and the plant's climbing habit. It was a big conversation piece in my garden and as was the case with anything I really loved this spring it was subject to theft and damage from the neighbor's foul balls that landed in the garden. Some people grow this plant as a houseplant and after growing it in the garden I can understand the allure.