A century ago, British garden designer and artist Gertrude Jekyll avoided malignant magenta in her painterly cottage gardens. Ever since, garden writers have been echoing Jekyll's disdain for this vibrant color of common flowers or, rarely, singing its praises.
It's my favorite color, so I was delighted to see so many magenta flowers at the Hot Plant Picks section of the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show this month. These are plants new to the trade, newly available cultivars or varieties, and unusual plants that may be hard to find. Volunteers from Western Horticultural Society solicited donations from wholesale nurseries and other growers.
Tetratheca 'Amethyst Eyes' is from Australia by way of the UC Santa Cruz Koala Blooms project and San Marcos Growers. A small evergreen shrub that stays under a foot high and spreads 1-2 ft. wide, Amethyst Eyes blooms profusely in the winter. It likes morning sun or cool sun in a well-drained location and has low water needs.
Amethyst Eyes tetratheca blooms profusely in the winter.
Boronia 'Lipstick', another Australian shrub, is offered by Suncrest Nurseries. It's a vase-shaped evergreen up to 4 ft. high and 3 ft. wide, smothered in vivid rose-purple bell-shaped blossoms in early spring. It needs full sun to part shade and moderate water, grows well in containers, and makes a good cut flower.
Suncrest Nurseries offered two native varieties. The Klamath Ruby cultivar of redwood sorrel has deep green leaves with red-violet (another name for magenta) undersides. Like the species, it grows 5 in. high and is a spreading groundcover. It grows best in medium to full shade with moderate water. In the spring, white flowers with pink stripes appear.
Klamath Ruby redwood sorrel (Oxalis oregana 'Klamath Ruby') is a dependable groundcover for shade, especially under redwood trees.
Ensenada rose (Rosa minutifolia) has long, thorny deciduous canes up to 4 ft. with single rose-magenta flowers. It needs moderate water and full sun in gardens. In its native range in San Diego County, it loses its tiny leaves in summer and can survive up to 9 months without rain.
Ensenada rose has quarter-inch leaves, reddish prickles, and single flowers. It's native to coastal sage scrub habitats and makes a good bank cover.
Celery-scented pelargonium from Annie's Annuals offers lacy foliage and long bloom of small magenta flowers from spring to early winter. It grows in sun to light shade with moderate water. The mounded form can get about 12-18 in. high and 18-24 in. wide.
Celery-scented pelargonium (Pelargonium ionidiflorum) has a delicate texture.
Annie's Annuals also featured coming attractions: carnation selections from grower John Barrington of Somerset, England, who has farmed for 50 years and specialized in carnations for 26 years. Unlike many carnations available now, these selections promise a longer bloom, larger flowers, stronger fragrance, and more dramatic colors. The specimens ranged from deep red to picotee (white or pink edged in magenta or red), with a strong spicy fragrance and 1 ft. stems. The blue-tinted foliage makes the flower colors even more dramatic. Like other carnations, the Barrington selections will need full sun and moderate water to do their best.
Barrington carnations (Dianthus sp.) will offer strong fragrance, long stems, and vibrant colors.
You can buy directly from Annie's, but to obtain plants from wholesale nurseries Suncrest or San Marcos, ask your local retail nursery to order the plant for you.
© 2012 Tanya Kucak