Add Photo to Journal
|
|
| Photo Credit: Lane Greer |
| The purple flowers of heliotrope are easy on the eye and nose. |
Want to bring the romance of the Victorian era to your garden? Then consider trying heliotrope (pronounced HEE-lee-uh-trōp) this summer. This annual was a favorite bedding plant in the 1800s, when it was treasured for its delicious vanilla scent. The plant’s aroma is so strong that Wayne Winterrowd writes in his book, Annuals and Tender Plants for North American Gardens, that heliotrope flowers give “the impression…of a perfume bottle unstopped.”
Of course, today’s heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens) is a bit different from what was used in the plant’s golden age. If you found it growing naturally, the annual’s pinkish-violet or dark lavender blooms would light up the landscape and fill the air with its scent. Since its heyday, however, breeders have taken the species and created plants with medium to dark purple blooms. Unfortunately for the modern gardener, breeding has also removed much of the wonderful fragrance, and you really have to get close to the plant now to catch the scent. But though the breeders taketh away, they also giveth – having added good disease resistance to the plant (which is a good thing, since disease just happened to be heliotrope’s downfall in olden times). | Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: Jessie Keith | | The dark foliage of ‘Black Beauty’ is a sharp contrast to the plant’s flowers. |
Chances are you’ll run across a few popular heliotrope cultivars when you’re on the prowl for annuals to add to your garden. ‘Marine’ has large, dark purple flowers on bushy plants. ‘Marine Light Blue’ is very similar, but with pale blue-purple flowers. ‘Alba’ features white blooms. And there’s a new introduction aptly named ‘Black Beauty’ due to its very dark-colored leaves.
While the plant’s blooms get most of the attention, the dark green, hairy, rugose (rough and wrinkly) leaves are pretty interesting, as well. To make the most of both the flowers and the leaves, be sure to plant heliotrope in rich, well-drained soil, where it flourishes. (It declines in clay or a heavy potting mix). Also watch out for overwatering. (If you do overwater, your plant will quickly tell you by offering up black leaves.)
|