COREOPSIS VERTICILLATA 'ROUTE 66'

I've grown and enjoyed many Coreopsis along the way, but this one is probably my new favorite.

Route 66 was discovered growing at a nursery in Pennsylvania. It was kept alive by the owners from year to year in the hopes of sharing it with the world.

I'm glad they did.

I can't give it a wink yet because it is my newest flower.

I'll tell you next year if it grows well here in Texas.

In the meantime I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I'm joining Lisa for Macro Monday. You can take Route 66 or many other roads to get to her fine blog.

That's it for today. 

Thanks for stopping by.

David/:0)

MALAYSIAN PALM GRASS LOVES TEXAS

Setaria palmifolia

Why give it a wink? 

Malaysian palmgrass provides beautiful, carefree evergreen foliage for any garden along the Gulf Coast. It has a nice, clump-forming habit and is not invasive in our climate. 

Its leaves resemble small palm fronds that sway in the slightest breeze.

The leaves must have some sort of nutrients since both our chickens and our cats seek out the young seedlings and eat the leaves voraciously.

It is also somewhat drought tolerant and this clump survived with only marginal waterings during the past two summers of drought.

Downsides: At times Malaysian Palm Grass can get infected with one of the many rusts we have here. When reddish brown dots appear, cut the plants back to the ground and destroy the leaves.

New seedlings do not carry the rust and older plants recover nicely from any bouts with grass rust.

One last thing; handle the stems with gloves since the bristles can be quite annoying to sensitive skin. But don't let it stop you from growing this beautiful grass from Southeast Asia.

That's it for this time! 

Thanks for stopping by.

David/:0)