August 2015

Sometimes I tire of new plants and gravitate towards the comfort of the tried and true in the garden. Four-o’clocks are definitely that sort of plant. So this year I planted a few different ones and in particular this remarkable cultivar called ‘Salmon Sunset’. Lovely color and fragrance and seemingly a relentless bloomer. Why had I forsaken these plants all these years? A splendid performer.

As many of you know I have a fondness for the genus Nicotiana, the ornamental and smokable tobaccos. This year I ordered a few unusual ones from Chiltern Seeds in the UK. This one is a variegated version of commercial tobacco (Nicotiana tobacum) thought to be a hybrid of several species. I can’t wait for it to flower.

But I must say the foliage is divinely mottled.