Sunday 23 August 2015

Colour In August

In 2013, I followed the late Geoff Hamilton's advice and visited a nursery or garden centre each month where I bought a plant in flower. Doing this should ensure that I have something blooming in the garden every month of the year.

In August 2013, my plant of choice was Liriope - Royal Purple. Unfortunately, this is another plant which hasn't done very well, in fact, it didn't even put in an appearance the following year so it was very short lived. I've replaced it this month with Tradescantia - Charlotte. I expect this variety will be very popular given the birth of the new princess. You can see it was just starting to bloom a couple of weeks ago when I bought it but it had lots of buds.


I'm not familiar at all with tradescantia but I've found out that it's a clump forming perennial, just like the liriope, and is semi evergreen.


It looks like a good, strong specimen and its buds have burst since I bought it revealing these beautiful, three petaled flowers.


I hope this does better than the liriope.

26 comments:

  1. Now that certainly is unusual and very pretty too!I do hope it does well.xxx

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    1. The flowers are reallly pretty and there's loads of them. I hope this one's a stayer.

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  2. My garden has loads of colour, but I could do with some late summer plants.

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    1. There's usually a time in a garden where there's a lull, that's why Geoff Hamilton's advice is so good, it's a great way to ensure year round colour in the garden.

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  3. What a shame about the liriope, but the tradescantia is beautiful. Fingers crossed it's a winner. CJ xx

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    1. It is a shame when a plant doesn't do very well but at least it leaves me with space for a new purchase. I hope this one does better.

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  4. Replies
    1. I'm very pleased with it, it's so pretty and full of flowers.

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  5. A good choice which I hope does better than the plant it replaces. Flighty xx

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    1. I'm hoping it will do better this time, it's nice and sturdy so it's off to a good start.

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  6. It looks very pretty, I love the colour of the flowers x

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    1. They're a beautiful deep purple, really attractive. The bees seem to like them too.

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  7. I think there must be several types of Tradescantia, because I associate the name with a plant that has long purple pointy leaves and very small white flowers. My Mum used to grow it in pots, trailing over a balcony. I remember it being very easy to propagate from cuttings - always a good feature in my opinion!

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    1. I'm not familiar with tradescantia but the white variety your mum used to grow sounds lovely. I like plants which are easy to propagate from cutting too.

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  8. What a beautiful plant. I hope it does well. Looks a bit exotic. I love your monthly plant buying idea, can't believe it was 2 years ago.

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    1. Time seems to be flying by, doesn't it? I'm pleased with the plants which have lasted but it's a shame that some haven't.

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  9. That looks a very nice plant / flower Jo, and what a very nice colour too.

    All the best Jan

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    1. It's a gorgeous colour and it seems to attract the bees too which is always good.

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  10. Beautiful flowers! I hope it does well! xx

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    1. I do too. I've had quite a few failures from my first attempt at getting year round colour in the garden.

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  11. Hey Jo,
    Oh gardening is such a hit and miss affair. I hope your new plant fares better. My Dahlias are a disaster this year. I'm thinking of buying seeds and raising them in the greenhouse, to see if I can grow something more robust.
    Leanne xx

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    1. I always say you win some you lose some, that's what gardening is all about. I've grown dahlias from seed in the past, it's amazing how big the tubers grow after just a year, though I didn't overwinter any of mine.

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  12. What a beautiful, unusual flower - you can probably purchase a new plant every week of the year and still not run out of options in your lifetime. I hope it does better for you than the Liriope.

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    1. I haven't come across this before but it looks a winner, I just hope it does well.

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  13. I think you posted about Geoff Hamilton's tip before. I've started following it and buy something in flower each month. So far I'm really enjoying it and it seems to be working out well.

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    1. I've had lots of successes and a fair few failures too, you win some you lose some. It's good advice though, especially to get colour in the garden during the winter months. Sometimes it's hard to find a plant in the depths of winter which is blooming and is suitable for the garden though, especially when the garden centres are taken over by Christmas decorations and plants come second.

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