Iochroma

I fell in love with Iochroma a few years ago. Say EYE-oh-chrome-uh. One of my clients grew the purple one. Then I saw it again in a friend's garden. It is a large shrub native to South American forests. I've seen them grow to 8' tall. They take to pruning well and can be kept around 6'. Research says they only grow outdoors in mild zones 8- 10. In SoCal inland we are zone 9. They are not frost hardy. But I haven't seen damage here. We had frost last year it not this year because if all the rain.

Iochroma is in the Nightshade family of Solanaceae which includes tomato plants and Brugmansia -Angels Trumpets. They attract hummingbirds and bees.

I searched for it at many local nurseries without luck. I finally mail ordered the purple, blue and red from Logees Nursery. I love the purple and blue. But the red one I'm not so happy about. It has bigger leaves and very small flowers. We'll see. This year I found a pink one that I ordered from Almost Eden Nursery. It came already about 8" tall. I potted it into a 2 gallon can right away and it already bloomed.  It's lovely!

Do you grow Iochroma?

Happy Gardening!

Star Jasmine Arch

I apologize for the length between posts. Spring is a busy time for most gardeners. In April I attended/worked the San Fernando Valley Iris show and the Pacific Rose Society/PSWD district con/ARS National Mini rose con. The latter was a huge deal. I was in charge of their bus garden tour on Friday and on Sat I exhibited roses, heard speakers, certificate calligraphy, saw a little bit of the show(I did win one trophy for micro mini- Yay!) and banquet.

Tom Thumb, best Micro Miniature rose.

AND I have spent the last two months weeding and getting my own garden ready to be included on the SFV Iris Society's Iris Trek(garden tour) that was last Saturday. Now that all those are over I can almost just enjoy my garden. But there still is the LA Geranium Society show coming up next weekend May 13 & 14 (Mother's Day weekend). If you're in the Los Angeles area, please come to the LA County Arboretum in Arcadia to see the show and shop for plants.  geraniumsociety.org


 Here is my Star Jasmine blooming over the arch & gate to the backyard. It smells so good. I planted it a few years ago and put up that arch maybe 2 years ago. I love how the plant travels overhead. The fragrance wafts through the backyard and the side yard. I wish you could smell it.

What have you been doing in your garden?  I love comments and hardly get any. 
Happy Spring!