Container Garden
Lophospermum
instead of petunias?
Debbie Teashon
Are your petunias looking tired, or are you tired of looking at petunias? This article is not about dissing the petunias, although I have plenty of complaints about some sold in the marketplace. They are mainstays for many summer baskets, yet I am tired of petunias, especially this time of year when they need deadheading.
Lophospermum erubescens hanging basket
What I really want to write about is the lovely Lophospermum. Commonly known as creeping gloxinias, and occasionally trailing or climbing snapdragons. Not to be confused with your typical snapdragon (Antirrhinum), lophospermums are fantastic performers in hanging baskets. They also provide choice spiller plants in a mixed container, or grown as a climbing vine.
These plants are exuberant performers, flowering from early summer through the first frost in autumn. The tubular to funnel-shaped flowers come in hues of white, purple, rose, pink, and red. The well-branched, newer compact varieties have flowers in shades of pink or white.
Lophospermum erubescens 'Bridal Bouquet' grows into a spectacular plant for hanging baskets. Grown in extra-large, hanging baskets, the plants can grow about six feet long and smother themselves in white blossoms. I've used the same cultivar as spillers in my large containers.
Creeping gloxinia's self-cleaning flowers makes them outstanding plants for containers and hanging baskets, which means no time expended deadheading spent flowers. With less time maintaining the show, there is more time to enjoy it.
Lophospermum erubescens 'Bridal Bouquet'
In the garden, the plants require less water than most; however, these are tender and will need to overwinter indoors. Grow them as annuals, buying new plants yearly.
Over the years, I've grown a variety of Lophospermums that have fallen under the genus names of Asarina, Gloxinia, and Maurandya. Now that I don't have a greenhouse, I will winter my current baskets in the house. Next year promises a bigger plant show.
The trailing snapdragons, once considered Asarina scandens, were renamed Lophospermum scandens. I grew the cultivar 'Joan Lorraine' from seed. This climber's purple flowers with a white throat are a bit smaller than the creeping gloxinias yet have the same tubular shape. I have grown this outside in the ground where milder winters left them intact. The arctic blasts of 2008-09 killed them off. However, I had plenty of plants protected in the greenhouse. I don't mind sacrificing a few for never-ending, push-the-zone-limit experiments.
The climbing snapdragons also went through a name change. Maurandya purpusii 'Victoria Falls' has had so many it makes your head spin. Not only called Maurandya, but it also landed in the Asarina and Gloxinia genus. If the taxonomist gods are satisfied, the plant stays in the genus Lophospermum.
These tender plants are relatively pest and disease resistant. However, I am testing them with deer this year. My new place has many deer that hang out in the meadow. They are trying my patience with their sampling. So far, the deer have not found the basket, or they aren't interested. I am suspicious that these plants are not deer resistant. I hope I am wrong.
Put the flowers on your hummingbird and bee plant list — the blossoms are relished by both.
Lophospermum scandens 'Joan Lorraine'
Check your favorite local nursery for these plants next spring. If you have trouble finding them, consider starting them from seed. You can find both seeds and plants from mail-order sources. Some nurseries still sell them under their old names, so check under all listed names.
You can sow seeds in February for flowers in the first year. Germination takes three weeks. To increase your plants or take insurance cuttings for winter, root softwood cuttings in late spring, and non-flowering shoots in late summer.
The best time to plant up a hanging basket for maximum growth is early to mid-May &mdsash; earlier if you utilize a cold frame or greenhouse. Four or five, four-inch pot-size Lophospermum is all you need for a full hanging basket, and only one or two plants for spillers in a mixed planting for window boxes, hanging baskets, and free-standing containers.
You may not want to kiss your petunias goodbye; however, the Lophospermums are a delightful replacement if you yearn to try something new.
Lophospermum erubescens flowers
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Wendy Tweton and Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners)
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