Mexican Flame Vine

Senecio (say cen-EH-see-O) is a very diverse genus.   You know Dusty Miller(Senecio cineraria) and String Of Pearls(Senecio rowleyanus), right? The look TOTALLY different!!! Dusty Miller has gray foliage and is mostly grown as a bedding plant accent or border. String of Pearls is a hanging succulent!  Just goes to show that they classify plants by their flowers and not their foliage or habit. 

  

Beginning of the flower 

 Here is a wonderful plant that I'm so glad I was finally able to find, Senecio confusus - Mexican Flame Vine, Orange Glow Vine or Mexican Love Vine. Common names vary everywhere.  They actually changed the name of this plant to Pseudogynoxys chenopoides.  That is a BIG mouthful! So, it's not even a Senecio any more.  I'd rather call it by the old name. It's much more fun.  

 I love orange flowers and I saw this plant in my friend Loren's garden. He has a huge garden and lots of cool plants. You may remember me mentioning him here before :-)  I went right away to search online and ordered it from Almost Eden Plants just this past April since I've never seen it in any local nursery.  It is said to like full sun to part shade and moderate water. Height may vary from 10-20'. And it blooms through the warm season. That could be March-Nov for us here in SoCal!  It is a tropical plant and only grows in zones 9 - 11 so it won't tolerate a hard frost. It's native to Mexico, Central America and the West Indies and is attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies. 

Middle of the flower lifespan

Since mine is still young, every time I see a flower cluster I get happy! 

3' tall a couple weeks ago before new trellis

Nearing the end of color on the flowers

Seed clusters looks like they do on String of Pearls. 

Today with extra trellis action.  4'

I'm sure it will need a taller trellis, stakes or wires soon.  But look what you can do with a couple bamboo stakes and a few zipties!  Research says it roots easily in water.  I'll have to try that.  It is also said the cause skin irritation or allergic reaction. Just what I need with my stupid every-bug-loves-me allergic skin. I'll have to be careful.   

I  have it growing on the east side of a hot fence.  I look forward to it getting to the top.   Do you grow this plant?   

Happy Gardening! 


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Pink Gaura

We have just recovered from record heat in SoCal.  We had here in Burbank and the San Fernando Valley 105-110º for a whole week. It was horrible.  It didn't even cool off but to the 80's at night. It was like being in Lake Havasu(which I hated-sorry Havasu people).  I know some people like the heat.  But I do NOT nor does my garden. It's difficult to work outdoors at all. Then on Friday a fire started in the Verdugo Hills just about a mile away! We could see scary flames  from our house for 3 days!   

 The finally put it out(at least on our side) last night.  We even had a little rain last evening and cooled down enough to open the windows.  For those from other places who may not know, in SoCal, we go without rain from about May - Nov. So any rain we do get in the summer is rare and awesome! 

Gaura is a perennial in SoCal that is native from Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.   The common white flowered variety is a noxious weed.  I will never forget mistakenly planting it for the first time for a client in Pasadena where it spread like crazy! I was forever digging it out.   BUT, the pink variety, Gaura lindheimeri Siskiyou Pink is so much nicer!  It doesn't spread but instead makes this airy mass of pink flowers.  I have not had any reseeding in several years in my garden. It has skinny leaves that you can barely see.  It is such a wispy plant that it was difficult to photograph in my garden today.  The flowers look like little pink butterflies.  

So fluffy! 

Gaura grows best in well drained sandy soil(which I have!) and full sun.  If it has one bad quality at all, it is that I have to cut it back about twice a year.  When it stops flowering for a bit, it is good to give it a whack! Then it grows back prettier and flowery.  It is said to bloom in the summer.  But here is SoCal it blooms for quite a long season.  Research says it grows in zones 5-8.  

See how it was difficult to capture in a photo! 

The flowers begin dark pink and sometimes fade to pale pink and white.  Laura is said to grow to 4 feet tall.  Mine are 4'tall and wide.   The name Gaura comes from the Greek gauros meaning superb in reference to the beautiful flowers.

This species honors Ferdinand Jacob Lindheimer (1801-1879), Texas plant collector.

Do you grow Gaura? 

Happy Gardening! 

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