Spring Color
Winter has settled in and most gardeners I know are already looking forward to the colorful plants of the spring season. Today I'm at JDS Nursery in Lucedale, where they are growing some of my favorite spring colors.
An old standby is the Sonnet snapdragon. With colorful flower spikes available in a kaleidoscope of colors, it is easy to see why Sonnet snapdragons are so popular. Flower colors include orange, scarlet, pink, white, and yellow. Rocket snapdragons are great for cut flowers and have a rich cinnamon fragrance. So where did snapdragon get its name? Kids always love seeing the dragon that lives in the flower. Hello, my name is Bachman the snapdragon. Nemesia is colorful annual native to South Africa that is related to snapdragon. The colorful flowers are up to an inch in diameter and the interior is bearded like an Iris. Blue Bird is an old standby variety with bright blue flowers and a white and yellow throat. The newer Juicy Fruit series can put on a colorful flower display. With delicious sounding names like Papaya, Kumquat, and Watermelon the flower colors are almost gaudy. Another snap dragon-like favorite is Diascia which is a vigorous and cold tolerant. This plant is commonly called twin spur due to descending spurs on the back of the flower. Wink Garnet is a bright magenta red while Whisper Pumpkin is a glowing pumpkin orange. Diascia are cheerful plants and especially well suited for combination containers.
These colorful plants will create interest for the cool days of the spring season, and they can be a lot of fun. I’m Gary Bachman for Southern Gardening.