Soroptimist Garden Tour 2010

I love the annual Soroptimist Garden Tour. What a perfect way to snoop through other people's gardens without having to worry about  homeowners catching you poking through their yards and chasing you off with a pointy hoe. Because while they might like that you admire their garden from the sidewalk, they can get testy when you wander around their backyard. Especially when there is a fence. 

But the Garden Tour takes care of my voyeuristic needs by letting me tour local homeowners' gardens without fearing I'll be arrested. I don't care what anyone tells you, the garden tour is all about snooping. And it's fun. I love to see what other gardener's are doing and what plants they have. Often time plants I've turned my nose up at in the nursery looks completely different in the garden and I have to have it. 

This year was no exception and I came away with some pretty severe flower-envy and some not-so-bad pictures. A couple of plants I couldn't identify and the homeowners weren't available for questioning. The first one is this little beauty. I love the foliage on this plant. Dark green, glossy, gorgeous. It appears that it had or will have small white flowers. It was a ground cover about 6 inches high and in a fairly shady area. If you know what this is, let me know. I feel like I should know but I don't for sure (pachysandra?). If Google wanted to be really cool we would be able to search by photos!

The next plant I was unable to identify was this unusual plant. I asked my friend-boss (it's only pertinent that my friend is also my boss in this context because she has more years in the greenhouse business that I do and knows a lot even though she says she doesn't) and she had no idea. The top part of this plant looks not unlike a hypoestes (polka dot plant) but the base of the plant is green and bushy. It also has little pink flowers. From a cursory search on hypoestes I guess it could be a leggy version but there were no pictures of such a condition so I don't know. Anyone know what this is?

This next plant I absolutely have to have. Gorgeous! It looked like a hibiscus, was HUGE and covered with blooms. Fortunately there was a sign by this plant that said "lavatera". Now some of you may know what that is but I did not. A quick Google search confirmed this is Rose Mallow and an annual. AN ANNUAL! That grows 3 to 5 in one season. In Minnesota! I love it. It was gorgeous beyond words. We do carry mallow at the greenhouse but not one as gorgeous as this. You can be sure I will be requesting this plant for next year. I have many spaces that would do well with a giant annual such as this. And yes, it is related to the hibiscus plant as well hollyhocks. If it reseeds, I will just love it all that much more. At least for now...

These dainty little beauties caught my eye at several houses. The blooms are exquisite.  My friend-boss said they were Lisianthus and that I couldn't have them. At the greenhouse, she means. Apparently, we would have to seed them NOW to have them next year. And since overwintering annuals here in the Northland is cost prohibitive, we won't be getting this plant. Apparently, these are a good cut flower so she told me to go to the florist and get myself some and leave it at that. Sigh. Fine. And while these have extraordinarily gorgeous blooms, the plants I saw were very spindly and weak. Every one of them was staked. And that goes against my own garden rules. If it can't grow by itself, it can't be in my garden. Too bad...


Other plants I realize I NEED to have (this is an addiction, you know. I am powerless...) are poppies of every color and variety I can get my hands on. I ordered some Oriental Poppies some years ago but they never grew and I haven't tried them again. We had them at the greenhouse this year and I didn't even get any. I know! What's wrong with me? That won't happen again. In addition to Oriental, I discovered that I also need California poppies. Strangely enough, my boy-child picked out these seeds for his own container garden. His aren't doing so well but I was assured by a fellow gardener that they need the cold to germinate and if I toss them in the ground next spring, I will have poppies. DONE! I also need more Bachelor's Buttons, both the perennial variety and the ever-reseeding annual variety. I love them so much. And last, I need more coneflowers. I have quite a few already but they are all the purple variety which I love. I also need white and red and pink....They just perform so great in the garden and then there is this:

 Enough said.