I saw a hanging basket of these at Walmart and it was just beautiful! But are these annuals? Could a person grow these as a ground cover in the summer? Do they bloom all summer? Does anyone know what kind of a growing habit they would have in a bed with perennials? How about a picture of them in a perennial garden? Anyone have one? Would love to see what they look like in that kind of a setting! I know they may be common, but they were definitely not common to me! I had never seen them before.
Thanks,
Sherry
Calibrachoa, Million Bells
Million bells are sort of miniature petunias. So whatever works with petunias will work with these.
I love these plants. They make great ground covers and hanging baskets. They are annuals, but I've over-wintered them in the basement. They bloom all summer, so long as they have full sun and very good drainage, and do not require deadheading. Odd time of year for Walmart to be selling annuals!
Lillyo, how do you care for them in your basement? Do you leet them go dormant or do you keep them watered under lights?
Put them under grow lights. Lost one because of inconsistant watering (my bad). Then there was the infestation of whiteflys (I think) which I dealt with by capturing the ladybugs flying around the house and bringing them to the basement. They kept going up toward the light and then being carried back down, but they did the job. The plants survived, but didn't thrive until put out in the spring. I don't know if the money saved was worth the aggravation, but I couldn't just let them go, they were so pretty.
I've got two pots that, believe it or not, are going into their THIRD year!! (And they call them annuals......!). Granted, I am in the South, but not by much (North Carolina), and the last few winters have been mild. Mine are in large clay pots, and the first winter they lived outdoors on a deck with a few sheltering bushes, but no cover, facing southwest. I just left them out, as I was trying to sell the house, and they kept blooming. Last winter they grew on a covered porch, but still outdoors and, yes, we did get freezing weather many times. Now debating what to do with them this year.....my feeling is that they survive the cold better than low light situations or overwatering, so I'll probably leave them out again and see what they do. They are one of the toughest and prettiest flowers around, in my opinion..
I also adore these plants and tried them as a ground cover, path edging plant this year...They grew in gently expanding circles reaching twice the size of a big dinner plate, and were simply covered in bloom for 4 months solid, and still going! They looked like a pool of peachy/pink by the end of the 1st month. I will definitely be planting them in baskets and pots, but also into the ground - they are truly versatile plants!
I can't find a good pic of them, but here is a shot that at least shows a bit of the plant in question. I can't believe I don't have a better shot - but they hug the ground so much they just didn't make it in many pictures....mental note for next year....get some pics of the Million Bells... LOL :0)
Jamie,
This pic was taken a couple years ago and on the right, you will see a pink million bells. It lasted 3 years in the ground just being mulched around. But this last year with the long freezing weather, it died. I was so disappointed. As you can see, it was so beautiful!
Duh, wrong pic. Sorry, the last pic was a very nice verbena, which also was toast to that same freeze.
This is the pink million bells.
They are really nice plants in the ground, and I think this is often overlooked since they are wonderful in containers. I will be interested to see what happens over the winter....all depends on the winter I'm sure. Your pic shows one thing they are gret for...covering old bulb foliage in pools of gorgeous color and 1000's of blooms every day! Nice shot!
Jamie
I was considering these for groundcover but the price is high - $7 per plant at the nursery!
I didn't know Walmart sold these - what are they getting?
BTW, I did a fair amount of research on this and these plants do seem to near perfect perennial groundcovers (I'm referring to the phlox and verbena also) if you can stomach the price.
Here's the company that markets them -
http://www.surfinia.com/html/new.html
There's also the Intensia phlox and "tiny monster" cranesbill which can be found on the proven winner site.
They are much cheaper than $7, at least around here. I find them for $2-3 each in the section of nurseries that have trailing 'basket stuffer' type plants, and they are such eager to please little guys I always get many of them! It would have to be a pretty big plant to go for $7, but since they quickly fill in and make a nice clump the smaller sized plants are much preferred and seem to transplant a bit easier... Just my take on them having grow them regularly since they first came out.. :-) I think I have probably bought 30 or more over the last many years, every color I can get my hands on... Great plants in containers, hanging baskets, and in the ground...
'Tiny Monster' is also a cutie, and much hardier than it looks....mine froze to the ground and was covered in 1/4' ice for over a week, and was heaved right out of the ground in a really nasty winter, and came leaping up out of the border in spring...it's just a delightful little trooper that I will always find room for in the front of my beds and borders..
The link you gave was a neat one....good pics of all the many, many colors these easy plants come in - makes me want one of each color.. :o)