The Contingency of Plants

Purple Heart:

I had seen this plant in several different places and had been thinking about it a lot as we are considering ideas for landscaping, but it had really been a fleeting thought until we went to the "Gotta Be NC" festival. As we traversed the grounds, we wandered slightly off course and found some awesome plants...that were labeled.

[Side note: I love labeled plants because then when I think they are cool, I can just read the label and know what I want. I adopted this obsession after the first time Jason took me to the NC State Arboretum; it is full of awesome plants and most of them are labeled. This is how we discovered we wanted Flying Dragon trees (pictured below) and began to grow them.]

Back to Purple Heart...Upon seeing what I now know as Purple Heart, I told Jason it would be a great potential plant for our ditch-line. We want a plant to fill our ditch line so dogs aren't drying to use the bathroom in it and so that we don't have to worry about cutting it; neither of us are in favor of lawn maintenance. Then before I know what has happened, I am touching the Purple Heart and find out it has a soft, luxurious feel; now I am addicted.

Time for the research to begin.

Hmm...according to Creaturesinnature.com Purple Heart are... "Grown for it’s thick, succulent like leaves, the flowers are totally secondary. Amazing purple color on a tropical looking plant. Purple Hart is a herbaceous perineal in the metro Atlanta area, but an annual any farther north. Grows to about 14” tall, unless planted close together, then it will start growing on top of itself and could get as high as 24”or more. Spreads to around 24”.

Plant in full sun, in moderately fertile soil. Drought tolerant, once established"

Words I like: perennial, annual, drought tolerant, moderately fertile

GardeningCentral.org [they] makes some interesting points, stating the Tradescantia pallida is "quite an invasive plant, that will fairly quickly take over an area, smothering out other plants in the process..." Invasive is definitely a word I approve of. We are looking for some self-sufficient plants for our ditch-line; we want plants that can withstand neighborhood dogs and serve as a border between our yard and the road without looking tacky. They also state that it can "tolerate...frost;" I assume this is a positive trait for NC weather issues. It also says the plant "prefers a rich moist soil, but...will grow in many types of soil," and "will rebound quite well if over-watered," which is similar to our Flying Dragons. The main negative that I see here is that it apparently needs to be "pruned periodically,"otherwise it will take over; however, the fact that it is great "in rock garden[s]" could work well for the stone we want while the stone can also keep it in check!

Loving it more and more!!

I want to find a small, green, bushy plant to border the Purple Heart: It will look tailored and will possibly stay somewhat contained without too much physical exertion. The only suggestion I have found so far is that it may grow well with the asparagus fern (gardeningcentral.org), but I will have to do more research into what that is and what it looks like.

Elephant Ears

The other plant that I am most interested in right now is called "Elephant Ears." They actually come in several different colors and patterns, so they add a lot of flair to a flower bed! I still have a lot of research to do on these, but I think they are a lot of fun...There are several pictures below!

Well I haven't looked up too much so far...but at this moment, it does not seem to promising. According to the ASPCA, elephant ears are "Toxic to Dogs, Toxic to Cats." Now the likelihood of Jasper eating a random plant from the flower bed, low, but the toxicity is rather disappointing because I don't particularly want to be the cause of someone else's pet dying either. Now I have to find out more...

According to about.com, elephant ears can also be black and are then referred to as "Black Magic"-way cool!...perennials in warm climates, annuals in cold climates. They are a little needy compared to the other plants we are looking at; they need more acidic soil and prefer wetter areas. The nice part about this is that it means we could probably plant them around the HVAC or where the gutters drain for a good use of the soppy soil, without trying to plant something that will drown in excessive water and they need to be planted 2-4" below the surface.

Well- it looks like we won't be growing elephant ears. As beautiful as I think they are and as much as I really want them, they are not worth the hassle or the danger to our son.

Goodbye Elephant Ears :'(