So who can resist a flower that smells like chocolate...? A sweet scent, vaguely like a chocolate bar, wafting around the garden on a warm morning breeze...
I planted Berlandiera lyrata for many reasons, and it has proved a stellar plant in my garden, far beyond the charm of the unusual fragrance. It is tolerant of low-desert heat as well as a good deal of cold, said to be hardy to -15 F/-26 C. Although I watered it frequently during its first summer, this summer it is thriving on widely spaced, deep waterings.
The rayed blooms are a creamy golden yellow, centered with burgundy.
The petal backs have a tracery of burgundy as well. When they fall, the central discs remain attractive for some time, framed with the still-green sepals. Leaves are gray-green, long and slender, with scalloped edges. Although the width is normally given at around 2 ft/.6 m, mine has spread further in its two years, still remaining about 18 in/.5 m tall. Overall habit is sprawling, but dense enough to keep it attractive.
During spring the flowers remain open all day, but as sunlight becomes more direct they close early in the morning. This may not occur in more temperate gardens! Despite this, the plant is capable of continuing to bloom through very difficult weather, including dry June in the Sonoran Desert.
It is native across a wide region from extreme southwestern Kansas across to Arizona and into Mexico. This means it is well adapted to dry conditions but can tolerate some moisture though it may get lanky with additional water. It takes alkaline soils in its stride. So far as I know, only the species is available. It is said to start easily from seed as well, though I purchased mine as a young (and quite scraggly) nursery plant.
Now that it has filled out, it makes a wonderful carpet beneath Acacia salicina, with some stems actually clambering up into the nearby shrub Senna nemophila. Clearly Berlandiera has a good many possibilities in a garden!
This is the second post in my small encyclopedia of plants for the desert garden. A brief entry is included also on the encyclopedia page (see top of post).
As I have just discovered the wonderful Thursdays Feature at
Cosmos and Cleome I am also linking this post there, where a number of other special plants can be discovered! Ed. Unfortunately, apparently I am not linking there; once again I am unable to post on a WordPress blog, this time despite my recent flirtation with Gravatar!
Weather Diary: Sunny; High: 104 F (40 C)/Low: 82 F (28 C); Humidity: 16-40%
As usual, a wonderful post......very informative and a visual delight.
ReplyDeleteAnd as always, thank you so much, Derek! This was a fun post to prepare for since the flowers are still making a good showing in the early morning :)
DeleteI am not usually a fan of yellow flowers, but with the smell of chocolate ... well, I could make an exception!
ReplyDeleteI've never run onto anything quite like it ;-) The scent wasn't very strong when it first began blooming, but now there is enough to become airborne when the breeze is right!
DeleteI've always admired this plant but never see it in nurseries here. Maybe I'll try growing it from seed (although I'm not very skilled in that arena). Best wishes for a wonderful weekend, Amy!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you in the seedstarting category :P I do think you'd really enjoy this one, though - definitely a wonderful yellow daisy, and it lasts fairly well in a vase ;-) Have a great weekend!
DeleteJust love these photos as the light is so perfect and what a lovely plant too...I always want to try the plants I see in your garden but never know if they will be happy. I can provide plenty of heat but so many of these more heat tolerant plants hate the amount of rain we get :-(
ReplyDeleteThe light was just lovely that morning; I was so glad I had gone around with the camera before it changed (or the flowers closed!)
DeleteI think Berlandiera might be worth a try for you if you can keep it from being in standing water, though I don't really know! I do see a reference to it growing in Miami: see the entry at http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1605/#b Dave's Garden is my go-to site when I want to know whether it's worthwhile to try a given plant here. Often someone has already tried and reported on the results! ;-)
Wonderful plant - and smelling of chocolate like the Cosmos (atrosanguineus, I think?) we are so fond of as a tender perennial in the UK. I think I prefer the joyful yellow of your Berlandiera, however. You are so lucky in North America having so many fascinating 'wildflowers' to use in your gardens!
ReplyDeleteIt certainly extends the possibilities of garden fragrances! I've not actually grown that cosmos - how intriguing that there are two plants with chocolate scent!
DeleteBecause there are so few "standard" perennials for this region, I'm becoming much more aware of the wildflower types - you are right, there are many exciting ones :) I would love to see this one take a place in regular perennial borders as well; it has so much to offer and is hardy enough to be used in many regions.
And hurray! It looks like my comment came through on your blog today! :D