Look for new Wishbone Flowers this spring

Well Look Who’s Here

When Proven Winners sent the big box of trial plants, most of them went into waiting containers and hanging baskets. But then there was one plant that needed more shade than the others. It’s easy to come by full sun on my property. But I’m not your gardener if you want full shade.

I stuck Catalina® Grape-O-Licious Wishbone Flower in a raised bed on the patio that gets afternoon shade. It became what I needed for that space: a ground cover. The little flowers kind of remind me of snapdragons.

It's won so many awards, they won't all fit on one page. There are three color choices for this Wishbone Flower: Gilded Grape, Midnight Blue and, Grape-O-Licious. I grew the Catalina® Grape-O-Licious (white with deep purple throat.)

I'm glad I don't get to pick the flowers I want in the trials. Because I would have never chosen this plant. Now that I've grown Wishbone Flower, I plan to grow it again this spring (2014)

Low maintenance is an understatement. If it hadn't been a rainy spring, it wouldn't have got watered. The Wishbone Flower did not get fertilized at all.

Hummingbirds love it. It grows as a solid mass of green covered in one inch flowers all summer long. No dead heading or pruning is needed. Just imagine how well it would have grown if I had followed the care instructions on the plant tag.

You can find this bicolor beauty in Spring 2014 at independent garden centers and most big box stores. I hope you will look for this plant. Catalina® Grape-O-Licious Wishbone Flower Torenia hybrid is one of my great garden success stories. I will be growing it again this year.

I like shopping at Independent Garden Centers. Money spent locally tends to stay local. The folks that work at the non-chain garden centers and nurseries know what they are talking about. It will be crowded and nurseries will be packed on that first warm spring day.

Use this season to ask questions and make plans for planting in April and May. The Proven Winners website has a handy garden center locator. Just type in your zip code and it will find the closest local garden centers.

Get Local will help you find the information you need. I especially like their plant recipes. For example, I'm looking for red, white and blue plant combos. Just click on “patriotic” for lots of beautiful plant combinations.