Proven Winners plant trial, 5th month
Here we are, checking in on the Proven Winners plants that were sent to me in late March for a seasonal trial in my garden. Poor plants. This summer has been a trial by fire as Austin suffers under exceptional drought conditions and marks its 53rd day of 100-degree or higher temperatures. Even established trees are drooping and turning yellow in protest. So what has five months of hell done to the young Proven Winners plants specially selected for my growing zone? Let’s see!
Carex ‘Toffee Twist’ is better than ever in mostly shade. I simply adore this small, coppery-brown sedge and plan to plant more in the fall.
Chrysocephalum apiculatum Flambe® Yellow, also known as strawflower, is definitely a proven winner in my garden in mostly sun. I love those silver leaves and sunny, yellow, button-like flowers. If it comes back after a freeze, it’ll be true love.
The Flambe® Orange looks good too, though I prefer the yellow.
Juncus effusus Quartz Creek is holding its own in mostly sun, despite less water than it would prefer. This month some of the reedy leaves are turning brown, and it’s looking a bit stressed, but overall the plant looks OK.
‘Diamond Frost’ Euphorbia is a bit droopy in shade with late-afternoon sun—a difficult condition for any plant. I’m still sold on this one, despite its August looks, and I would plant more of it. An existing one came back after our mild winter last year.
Two ‘Senorita Rosalita’ cleomes are still beautiful, blooming in a four-foot-tall mass of lavender-pink in mostly sun.
‘Senorita Rosalita’ is far from perfect, however, tending toward brittle stems. One plant split after a brief shower weighed down the leaves one afternoon, leaving this big hole. Frown.
How can I not adore these flowers though? This image is a truer representation of its color than the two above, which are washed out.
Cyperus papyrus King Tut® held up beautifully in mostly shade until this month. The lack of rainfall or extra watering finally caught up with it, and portions have turned brown and dried up. I don’t believe it’s going to make it, and I would only plant it in a boggy spot in Austin.
Yikes, the torenias—all seven of them—look like these three, or worse. Some have completely disappeared, and the rest are hanging on rather pitifully. They were lovely in the spring, when they were being watered every other day. Maybe that is the secret, or maybe the heat has been too much for them. Whichever the case, I wouldn’t bother planting these again except for a spring display before summer perennials come into their own.
Ageratum Artist® Blue Violet, or flossflower, is hanging on by the skin of its teeth in part sun. (Those are fallen crepe myrtle flowers around it.)
Ageratum Artist® Purple is a goner.
Cuphea llavea Totally Tempted®, so dazzling in spring, has bit the dust. I received two and planted one in morning sun and one in afternoon sun. The one in afternoon sun died first, and the morning-sun cuphea has now followed suit. Not a keeper.
Follow this link to see images of all these PW plants in happier days, before the heat and drought got them. For reference, my garden is situated in a warm part of Austin, zone 8b, in part-sun or dappled shade under live oaks, planted in excellent, well-draining soil from Natural Gardener. I watered well in the first months to get the plants established. Now I water twice a week on my designated watering days. In other words, these plants don’t get babied with daily or every-other-day watering. I know that the ones still standing at the end of this summer will be keepers.
All material © 2006-2009 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Well, I’m glad that the cleome at least is looking good– that one was my sentimental favorite and I plan to try some next year. The others, though, yikes! If Proven Winners wanted to test for survival under extreme conditions, they couldn’t have picked better than Austin this summer!
The cleome is my sentimental and romantic favorite too, Lori. We need to put in requests for it at Home Depot or the Great Outdoors or whatever nurseries are carrying PW plants. We can’t count on finding it otherwise. —Pam
After hearing about your weather, I am surprised that anything is growing. On the other extreme, we had 4″ of rain last week, and yesterday we had 3″ in about an hour and a half, prompting flooded streets, abandoned cars closed interstates and tunnels. The normally hellish rush hour became something else. I will try to contact the weather gods and see what can be done for Texas.
If it’s not one extreme it’s the other, apparently. I’m sorry to hear about your flooding. I’d happily take your excess rain though. —Pam
Excellent update Pam. Not many annuals with their shallow root systems can tolerate less then perfect watering; but, the cleome sure is a keeper. Like you, I love Toffee Twist; planted in a raised bed, it survived our 7a wet winter…Hopefully rains will return to Austin this fall. gail
Toffee Twist sedge and the Senorita Rosalita cleome are two plants I have fallen in love with through this plant trial. I count that as a success, no matter what happens to the other plants. —Pam
Pam,
Considering what you guys are going thru I think everything looks good. I can’t believe the weather you guys are having; I’m sincerely concerned about all that high heat, I really am. It makes me think we and our actions might be behind it.–Randy
I’m worried about that too, Randy. I’m trying not to let myself think that this weather may be the norm of the future for us. But I’m beginning to plant that way—lots more agaves and other drought-tolerant plants are in my garden plans. —Pam
Real life. Real garden. Real weather. True results! Thanks for the update.
Cameron
What a great tagline that would have been for my post, Cameron! —Pam
Most torenias I’ve seen can’t seem to keep up with tough temperatures, Proven Winners or not. Most everything else seems to look pretty good considering. Thanks for sharing!
I think it’s all pretty good considering also, Jean. The weather this year is atypical, and it has taken a toll on all my plants, not just the Proven Winners. —Pam
Thanks for sharing that good info.! I will have to remember those that did well in this heat. I love that yellow strawflower.
The strawflower is wonderful, Amy! I will definitely be planting more of it, and I’m harboring a secret hope that these will come back next year. We shall see! —Pam
I wondered why the leaves all vanished on my Diamond Frost euphorbia last summer. Last week I found out why; the chickens! They think those leaves are the best things ever. The poor plant was half nekkid before I figured it out and placed the pot out of the reach of hungry beaks. (good thing it was in a pot!) who’da thought?!
Ha, chicken attack! I’d have never guessed, Cheryl. Good thing you figured it out before it was too late. —Pam
😀 What a year to be sponsoring a very public trial. All told, the group is doing remarkably well.
Hm… I might have to give the ‘Senorita Rosalita’ a try. I love the color.
All garden bloggers are always doing very public trials of their plants and designs, right? PW obviously doesn’t mind taking that chance too, for which I commend them. So much of gardening comes down to very specific conditions on the ground and in the sky, which is why public trials are so useful, particularly for local readers. —Pam
It’s a different story here in NC with the PW trials. I’ve grown Senorita Rosalita for several years and this is the first year she split on me–but then mended herself. Her stems are very sturdy here and last year was a scorcher like yours. I’ll do a post on it later today and show you a few interesting things between my SR and my neighbor’s that I planted for her.
Flambe never does good in my garden. I tried it in the beds and a container–it did ok but looks nothing like yours. I gave up. Cuphea and Torenia are must haves in NC. They grow huge and love it here. Not just my garden but anyone’s— It’s the climate.
PWs Ageratum does well but you have to watch it in our sometimes hot sometimes dry conditions and give it breathing space. If you crowd it you’ll get mildew and if you let it dry out—it croaks. I have to give it morning sun and afternoon shade.
King Tut arrived at my garden this year too and looks just like yours. I have two of them and the one in the sunnier location is doing better.
It’s fun to compare how the PW’s hold up in NC compared to TX but then again is this a fair season to ask you? I think not as we all know what a grand gardener you are! I’ll link to you when I get the SR post up. Enjoyed being in your garden today and always enjoy reading your advice and honesty.
I enjoyed your post tremendously, Anna. What a difference in climates we have this year, eh? To answer your question, I don’t know if this has been a fair season to trial the PW plants in Austin. But then again, Austin has a harsh summer climate. While this summer has been extraordinarily brutal, I am learning some valuable info about these plants by seeing how they hold up in such extreme conditions. I’m more sold on the cleome than ever, knowing that it can bloom so beautifully in such a hellish summer!
Interesting that the Flambe strawflowers that are working so well for me don’t perform well in your garden. Too much rain, maybe? While the ‘Totally Tempted’ cuphea didn’t work out for me, I’ve had great success with other cupheas in Austin, including batface (C. llavea), cigar plant (C. ignea), and an unknown pink variety passed along to me by Annie in Austin. —Pam
Pam, I think Senorita Rosalita needs a home in my garden. I’ll watch for her next spring. What a trial this year has been for Texas gardens and Texas gardeners alike! 48 days till October 1st: even if it’s still hot then, we’ll know it truly is almost over!
Ooh, 48 days sounds like a really long time! But I’m already seeing a difference in the quality of the light, and the days are getting shorter. Relief cannot be far behind. As for the cleome, I hear this one can be hard to find. Make sure you request it at your local nursery, if they carry PW plants, or at your “friendly” big-box store. —Pam
Interesting to follow the progress, I wonder if the Proven Winners folks are wishing they had picked another year? I applaud them for doing this and you for sharing the facts. I also hope you get a break in the weather, soon!
Hi, Loree. The PW rep who initially contacted me was very accommodating about sending me plants earlier than her other trialing gardeners (winters are mild, summer comes early here, and I wanted the plants in the ground by the end of March), and in sending me plants that had been tested in Dallas and were thought to take brutal summer conditions. I let her know that I don’t water on a daily basis and that it gets hot and dry here. She was game anyway, and so was I. So I hope that she hasn’t been disappointed in my reports. I actually consider this trial a huge success for me personally, because now I know about several new plants that perform well in difficult summers, which I might never have known about otherwise. —Pam
Hello Pam! I’ve been following your blog for quite a while but have yet to post anything. I’m glad to see that I wasn’t the only one having issues with the Cuphea ‘Totally Tempted’. I’ve tried it two years in a row now and it has died on me both times. I know that you’ve grown other Cuphea species in the past, have you had the same problems with them?
Hi, Jared. No, several other cuphea varieties grow beautifully for me with minimal water: C. ignea, C. llavea, and an unknown pink bloomer that was a passalong from a friend. Definitely try some other ones. Cuphea is a great plant to have. —Pam
Hey Pam – Proven Winners folks here. I just wanted to comment and thank you for doing the trial plus tracking the progress of these plants. All of the plants that were selected for your garden – made it on the Dallas Arboretum Awards List. Here is a link to awards: http://tinyurl.com/DallasArboretum. My guess is that their plants are watered more frequently than yours and your growing conditions are probably a bit different than Dallas. All Proven Winners varieties are tested and trialed at Universities and Demostration gardens across the country before introduction – visit a local trial garden near you to see how plants do in trial there. Here is a link to all the trials: http://www.provenwinners.com/informationcenter/trials.cfm. Although, some plants didn’t survive for you – many of them strived and I’m glad that we could open your eyes to some introductions that I hope you will have featured in your garden year after year. Take care, grab an ice tea and Happy Gardening!
Hi, Danielle. Thanks for the info. If you read my responses to all my comments, you’ll know that I count this trial as a big success. Although not every PW plant performed well in my garden and in Austin’s atypical summer this year, I learned about several that did very well and that I will be using more of in the future. For that I’m grateful that you gave me a chance to try them out! Happy gardening to you too. —Pam