Tag Archives: Annuals

Proven Winners Señorita Blanca™ Cleome

 Look for this plant

Sometimes called a spider plant. I think it looks like the floral version of fireworks. Grandmother had an older variety that was harder to grow. This Señorita Blanca Cleome is draught tolerant and easy care. No deadheading or pruning needed.

This cleome doesn’t have the odor of earlier varieties. There are no seed pods. Photo: PBH

You can read more and see the cleome at Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

This color works well in a cutting garden or butterfly garden. The white blooms allow other plants to glow. The pale lavender tint compliments all the flowers.

I would recommend this annual to others and I will buy it again. There are no seed pods dropping everywhere because the Señorita Blanca Cleome plant is sterile.

Señorita Blanca Cleome. Non stop blooms through the record breaking heat and now in to cool short days of fall. Photo: pbh

Señorita uses it’s energy to bloom continuously, instead of making seed. I’ll take that improvement any day. From spring to first hard frost, these soft colored flowers on sturdy stems bloom nonstop.

During our record breaking heat, the cleome held it’s own. Growth slowed but did not stop. The plants received regular water and occasional liquid fertilizer.

Come spring, look for this plant at independent garden centers. When designing your containers this spring, keep Señorita Blanca Cleome in mind to add height to any container, perfect for cottage gardens, butterfly and cutting gardens.

Blooms from spring to last frost. Photo:PBH

This plant was sent to me by Proven Winners for trial. In my zone 6A, southeast Missouri garden. Señorita Blanca Cleome showed no signs of disease or insect problems.

If you had a hard time getting cleome to grow, them give them another try. Proven Winners has a better cleome.

Teamwork: annuals and perinnials

It would be hard to choose between annuals and perrenials. Either way would be more work and very limiting.  Annuals and perennials make a great team.

Frankly Scarlet daylily. A favorite easy care perennial. 4″ bloom, 24″ tall, Early-Mid Season + rebloom, a 2003 All-American Selection.

Eating locally and eating seasonally help us understand. When I first moved into our new house, the first thing I planted was asparagus. True, we would not benefit from this food source for three years. Every year after that and probably for as long as we lived there, this spring delacy would be ours to enjoy for years to come.

Until those whispy little asparagus ferns get bigger, there is plenty of sunshine in that garden to plant a few strawberry plants. Both asparagus and strawberries are considered perennials in my southeast Missouri USA garden (zone six)

A surprise to many gardeners, tomatoes are really a perennial. Well, not in my back yard. Where they are native, tomatoes are perennials. Most folks here in the U. S. treat them as annuals. At the first hint or suggestion of a frost, tomato plants just cry and die.

See The Hub Pages Report: Which is best? Annuals or Perinnials

I am glad that there are both annuals and perinnials. in my front yard, vegetable patch, patio containers.

Bachelor Buttons

Blue Boy Bachelor Button
I plant Bachelor Buttons every year. Bachelor Buttons (Centaurea cyanus) are a member of the aster family. The flower is the ideal boutonniere because it fits perfectly in a lapel button hole and can last out of water.

Easily grown from seed, butterflies and bees are attracted to these hardy sun loving flowers. To keep the blooms going all summer, deadhead as the blooms fade. Centaurea is also known as cornflower because the plant grows wild in the grain fields of southern Europe.

When Napoleon forced Queen Louise of Prussia from Berlin, she hid her children in a cornfield and kept them entertained and quiet by weaving wreaths of cornflowers. One of her children, Wilheim, later became the emperor of Germany. Remembering his mother’s bravery, he made the cornflower a national emblem of unity.


It’s is an edible bloom with a mild sweet spicy taste, and can be used to garnish salads and desserts. It also makes a lovely everlasting, or dried flower. Though most often found in shades of blue, you will also find pinks, purples, whites and even an occasional black bachelor button.

Bachelor Buttons seed is easy to find in most garden center flower seed displays. Renee’s Garden Seeds, has a brilliant blue cornflower named ‘Blue Boy’ that is a cottage garden standout. I had great success with ‘Blue Boy’ in my container gardens last year. Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, has the rare heirloom ‘Black Boy’ bachelor button with lovely, nearly black flowers.

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