A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 Mystery Something (NOT deer proof!)

I love posting in this forum, but it sure would be handier if Walmart would have all their plants marked!! I liked this shade of green, & I know that they'll make flowers in a few days (...if the deer don't get to the other 3 first!)

Anybody know what they are?

I think they might be zinnias. At least that is what the leaves remind me of. I'm sure someone will be along before to long and let you know exactly what they are!

Sarah

Cant place the plant-have definitely seen it. The leaves remind me of zinnias as well but the upper part looks different

I think those are sweet peas.

I have Sweet Peas growing, & they're climbers, so I know it's not a Sweet Pea. (These are much larger... I should have put a ruler by them when I took the pic.) The upturned leaves DO resemble them though.

Don't Zinnias have darker green foliage? (These are chartreuse.)

If they DO turn out to be Zinnias, does each plant only put out 1 flower? (I'm just wondering if the one the deer snacked on is going to make another flower, or if I should just regard what's left as "texture" or something!) :rolleyes:

I'm not too sure they are zinnias.....they leaves do look like them though....I have at least 50 zinnias growing in my garden and the leaves don't point up like that....and they put a flower out when they were half the size of that.... BUT, if they are zinnias they should produce many flowers, not just one...they kind of branch off.

They look Godetia to me.

Any flowers yet Patty?

They resemble my balloon flowers, but my plants have toothed leaf edges.

This flower looks like a Gloriosa lily to me. So I had to register and post to tell you.

Here is a link to look for yourself. http://www.easytogrowbulbs.com/inde...OVKEY=gloriosa%20lily&OVMTC=standard

Wow! Thanks, Carla... it'll be sooo cool, if it turns out to be a lily, because I've decided that I'm partial to them! I have fencing up in front of that bed now, & as soon as I get a blossom, I'll be back.

By the way, I love your screen name... welcome to the forum! I'm looking forward to getting to know you, & am glad that you registered & came in here to help out! (I'm forever buying plants that don't have ID markers in them, so this place comes in pretty handy.) Hope to see you again soon... & often!

Any pictures of the blooms yet?

Patty - I have this same flower - Weezie correctly identified it for me last year, but I can't for the life of me remember the name. It gets teensy pink flowers - one of mine just came into bloom today.

Here are some pictures of it from last year:

Am I going to love these, or what?
PURPLE!

OK, Weezie... Your turn!

Thanx, Lynne!

looks like garden phlox or tall phlox

I would lean more toward Phlox Divaricata, the Wild Blue Phlox. The flowers are in loose clusters as opposed to the tight clusters of Garden Phlox. The Wild Blue Phlox has a somewhat sticky stem if that is any help.

http://www.bsu.edu/web/fseec/environment/ECI/FloraECI/Phlox_divaricata.htm

Looks like some of my lily's

They also look like phlox to me. I have them in my yard and they look exactly like that.

There were some interesting guesses here, & they all seemed to have a similar characteristic of one kind or another, to the plant in my first photo... but it didn't turn out to be Lynne's flower (that she couldn't remember the name of), & it also isn't a lily of any kind, or Zinnia, or Sweet pea, or Balloon flower, or Godetia, or any type of Phlox....


It's a Lisianthhus. I think they come in a few different colors, but I happened to get PURPLE!

I apologize for not getting back here sooner... When I first got the plants & posted the photo, I thought the buds that were on them would open up any day, (simply because they were buds!) NOPE! The buds just kept getting bigger, & the first flower didn't open up for another three weeks! (As you can see, there are many blossoms on each stalk... they just get better & better!) By then, my daughter had arrived from Maui & I was busy packing for our trip to Cedar Hill & points north, so I didn't have a chance to get back here. (Things are back to "normal", & I'm just now trying to get caught up on everything that I'd left hanging!)

I'm finding out that not only do Lisianthus flowers last for several weeks, but they're wonderful as cut flowers! I broke a plant off by accident last week (The stems break VERY easily), & worked it into an arrangement to take to a friend in the hospital. I went to see her again today, & the flowers look as good as they did the very first day!


By the way... in my second post here, I asked: It grew back & is making flowers!

Beautiful bouquet Patty!

And that lisianthus is so much prettier than the flower I thought it was!
Interesting how similar the stem and leaves are though...

I had a small lisianthus last year - purple too - but it did not compare with your oh-so-pretty ones here!

Patty, those are just gorgeous. I'm so glad you ended up with them. I've tried growing them a couple of times but they just can't hack our Okie summers. I may give it another shot next year and try them in one of my more shaded beds that only gets a couple of hours of sun in the early morning. I really think they are a beautiful flower!

Rosie, these are in a bed next to the south side of my house, in full sun all day long, so I wouldn't think your Okie summers are the problem. We're in a hot, dry climate here, but have had a hotter-than-usual summer so far... with temps reaching 110-115* (normally, we peak out at 105*). All I can say is that I keep them well watered, & the soil in that garden is actually probably pretty poor! (Some of the other plants in that same bed are Gazania, Tomatillo, & Shasta Daisy.)

Maybe Lisianthus does well in partial shade, but I don't know, as this is the first year I've ever even seen these flowers! (This being my first full growing season with ANY flowers, there are probably LOTS of flowers I haven't seen yet!)

I don't know yet, how they make their seeds or what they look like (I bought these as little plants in the middle of June), but I'm sure going to watch for them, because I want HUNDREDS of them in my garden next year!

I do hope you'll have success with them next year, because they ARE absolutely gorgeous!
(I'm entering mine in the County Fair this week!)

Hey, good luck with your Fair entry. They are certainly gorgeous enough to win a Blue Ribbon!

I think next year I'll try to find some bedding plants rather than attempt starting from seeds. I don't have the patience or good luck with seeds. I want it NOW!!! lol!

Thanks for the information on yours. From what I've been reading, the seeds are very tiny and difficult to germinate. Or I should say, a very low rate of germination. I think I still have one package of seeds in the fridge. I may try to Winter Sow them just for giggles.