Plumbago

Plumbago
Plumbago auriculata
(plum-BAY-go) (aw-rik-yoo-LAY-tuh)
Synonym: Cape Leadwort

I am not going to say much about the cultivation of this plant because I have limited experience with it. I do however enjoy the masses of blue flowers. Several years ago I had a couple outside growing in pots and some of them I trained as a vine and some as a bushy shrub. I don’t remember what happened to them. I should try them again sometime. One thing I like about Plumbago is the fact it comes in so many shades of blue. I am not sure if they are cultivars or what. It reminds of the old Buffalo Springfield (anybody remember them?) song BlueBird:

“There she sits, a lofty perch.
Strangest color blue.
Flying is forgotten now.
Thinks only of you.
Just you.
So, get all those blues,
Must be a thousand hues.”
By Stephen Stills

I have a busy week ahead. People are starting to come home and I want everyone’s place to be ready. It is a lot of minor stuff but it takes times so there will be a lot of running around. With all the rain and cooler temperatures the gardens around here don’t really look like the usual tired August selves. So that will be helpful. I have a big irrigation leak that I have to fix tomorrow afternoon; that should be fun. It is a 2-inch pipe with about 4 other smaller pipes around it. Why couldn’t it have broken a few feet away where all the pipes are separated?