Does any one grow verbascum?

20 Jul '07 4:10 am

One of the gardening catalogs have a beautiful one called carribean crush and I was thinking of ordering it. It is really gorgeous in the photo, ranging from pale yellow to a bright orangey pink. ($12.95 for one 3 inch pot, it is a little on the expensive side.) I would like to know if any one has any experience with these plants and how they do in the garden before taking a chance on it. Any pictures of them growing would be great too.

20 Jul '07 9:15 am

I've admired it but haven't had a spot that cried out for it. I think it would look in a natural looking area. The price does seem to be too high. I suspect you could do better at your local nursery.

20 Jul '07 5:41 pm

looking cultivar. According to the advert it likes poor soil and tolerates drought conditions. My worry is it sounds too good to be true. I was hoping someone had tried it so I would know if it were true or just a sales spiel.

22 Jul '07 6:07 am

I did have a few Verbascum 'Helen Johnson' growing in my last garden. They are fabulous plants and flowered well and did seem to be quite ok not being watered much once the plants had established. Hopefully I will be able to find them for my current garden Smile

$12.95 does sound like a lot of money for a small pot Eh?

but I guess it depends on how hard they are to come by...
One thing I notice (after googling) with Caribbean Crush is the amount of colour variation in the pix. Is this normal for this particular plant?

23 Jul '07 12:39 pm

according to the catalog and the accompanying pic it should have yellow, pink and orange in varying shades on each stem, eye catching. It gives it a tropical look, guess that is why the name. Is that the color variation you are talking about?

23 Jul '07 6:41 pm

Perhaps that explains the high price then if it is a new cultivar that isn't yet readily available. I just checked on line for what my local nursery carries, but sorry no Caribean Crush. They have another called "Southern Charm" that I'm going to go purchase soon. It grows two feet high with large peachy flowers with purple eyes. Easy and tolerant of just about any sort of soil and minimal water (but at least part sun). This is the connector if you'd like to check it out.
http://www.anniesannuals.com/plants/plant_display.asp?prodid=1098&account=none
They have an A to Z list of all the plants they grow on line with descriptions and growing requirements.

Good luck!

24 Jul '07 2:29 am

If the one works out as well as they say I think I will have to try that one too. They are very pretty flowers for such little care, always a plus, especially in summer when it gets so hot out and your spending so much time babying the harder to please plants.

24 Jul '07 7:16 am

Howdy faerisweet
When I googled I saw some flower stems which were photographed as Caribbean Crush being a solid colour as well as the mixed you describe.
It makes this particular plant interesting especially if you managed to grow a few of them together. It would look very pretty Smile

Nice link Mark, I love the humour of the site owner. These really are fabulous plants and I will be finding a few spots in the garden for them also Wink

24 Jul '07 7:28 am

Glad you liked Annie's. They and she really are characters. You should see the madness at her annual parties. There is a steel drum band, food and snacks, face painting for kids and games where you can win a shopping spree with a red wagon. Mostly I like that they grow so many varieties. For example they have 23 different verbascum for sale, including the 'Helen Johnson' variety that was mentioned. I really like the alpha list of plants because they show you decent photos of each plant and tell you what it needs to make it grow happily.

24 Jul '07 7:35 am

mMMmmm.... 'shopping spree with a red wagon', what a prize!

I'm very glad that this topic has come up cos I had forgotten all about verbascum and they really are great plants. You gotta love a plant which can grow amongst the stones on the side of the road and bloom! I think I may have to go visit the garden centre soon and check out what they have, wonder if you can get seeds... Very Happy

Does any one grow verbascum?

Does any one grow verbascum?

Afraid not, Faerisweet.

It is a really pretty

color variation

You got me curious and now I'm going to go get one too!

very nice

Hi Pumpkin.