Indian Pinks for Hummingbirds

Does anyone here grow this plant? I am interested in cultivation and habit, and how attractive it is to hummingbirds and butterflies. Anything you can point out is appreciated.


Here's a really good website link from the rubythroat.org which lists this plant as #8 on the "Top Ten Native Plants for Hummingbirds".

http://www.rubythroat.org/PinkIndianMain.html


Fnf

I have never heard of this flower before, it looks like it should be a good one though. I would be interested in trying this one out also. Hopefully someone will respond and let us know.
Robin

Very beautiful plant. I found a place that sells it, but they are sold out. I hope that someone does have it.

Carol

http://www.herbroot.com/roots/indian_pink.html

Check this list out... http://davesgarden.com/products/ps/go/48891/

Wonderful. Thank you. I just placed an order. :)

Carol

Ladysaltfire ~ should grow well in your area. I found this as a wildflower and the books state it is more common in La. Here, it likes morning sun and a bit moist soil. On the edge of a clearing so shade is not a problem. Seeds would be easy to harvest but I never did as I wanted it to spread. Good luck.

fnf, Ella (starlight1153) grow's them and has been doing some experments with them.If anyone can give you hints and tips on them she's the one. Don

Well, my yard is almost all sun. But my porch is perfect. I think I will add this to my treasured porch plants. The little hummers like to rest on my potted plants. Now, they can feed and rest.

Carol

I have the same thing all sun everywhere but my porch, That will have to be where mine goes too. Thanks for the link podster.

Did someone post Barry Glick's description of it? http://www.sunfarm.com/picks/spigeliamarilandica-125812.phtml

Sounds like it's easy to grow in a part shady place...but it's difficult to propagate.

I was reading about Indian Pink, Spigelia marilandia, in BHG's top 15 natives for the southern gardens. I also saw Viola Valley's classified ad has this plant. less than 25 are $0.60 each. Not bad at all if I'm reading the price list correctly.

http://www.violavalleywildflowers.com/roots.html#qN_I

Deborah

Gee, thanks for the links, ya'll. Podster, I read it was a "Southern" native, but also in another article, read it was a native to NJ!! I just need to hear from people who have it. I see that you are growing this plant?? I found several nurseries selling it--Lazy-S has several kinds. It is supposed to be a wildflower, so I wasn't sure how easy it would be to domesticate as a bedding plant. I once tried Tennessee coneflower (a protected species) and it was a real pain and eventually "disappeared."

I hope to hear from Ella (Starlight158). Thanks, Don, for referring her.

Tabasco,
Never heard of Barry Glick or the Sunshine Farm and Gardens. Thanks for posting the link to his article. Is he a DGer??

I am actually not "growing" it, only admiring and protecting it. It is a wildflower discovered on our property. Not a common one though.

I have not harvested seed as I chose to let it spread. Last fall we enlarged our pond and changed the spillway so I dug some of this plant up and potted it. Needless to say, it did not survive in a pot. Those left in ground bloomed like it hadn't been disturbed.

f 'n f--- Barry Glick is a 'gardening personality' who operates Sunshine Farm-- a nursery featuring a few selected specialties.

Glick likes to write interesting essays about plants... I don't think he's an active member of DG but he is often referred to and is well known in the plant world... http://www.sunfarm.com/
He is especially well-known for his work with hellebores and popularizing them in the past few years...

Sounds like 'Indian Pink' is a nice but underused garden plant. Even the BBG articles say nice things about it. I would definitely like to try it. A good hummingbird plant for my shady places. And sounds like it can be grown from seed, too....

I think Indian Pink is native to a large section of the US.

There's one more plant available on Viola Valley's Ebay site:
http://cgi.ebay.com/EXTREMELY-RARE-INDIAN-PINK-MARYLAND-PINKROOT-SPIGELIA_W0QQitemZ260133713349QQihZ016QQcategoryZ42207QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

Looks like a beautiful plant!
Cathy

Not sure if that link will work, here's a better one:
http://search.stores.ebay.com/VIOLA-VALLEY-WILDFLOWERS-FERNS-HERB_indian-pink_W0QQfciZQ2d1QQfclZ4QQfsnZVIOLAQ20VALLEYQ20WILDFLOWERSQ7eFERNSQ7eHERBQQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQsaselZ165107277QQsofpZ0

Wow, Potster, you aare lucky to have such squatters on your property. I recall how you like to pot things up and am sorry your potted Pinks didn't like it. Too bad. It seems that letting them alone is the best cultivation technique, correct?

Thanks for the Who's Who in Gardening brief, Tabasco. I really just started getting into this and an not yet aware of the big names in the trade and and field; so, it really helps to hear about these gurus from other DGers.

What??!!! $22 for a plant?? Thanks, SV--Viola Valley e-bay DOES have a lovely picture, though. Could it possibly survive transplanting this late??

I think it's 10 plants for $22.50 isn't it?

Anyway, it sounds like if you can get a hold of some seed you might be able to winter sow them...

Hey, I really didn't look at SV's link that closely since I don't really like to do auctions or e-Bay. I just went to the Viola Valley website to check directly. They had like 10 bareroots for $6!!! Of course, that is a great deal!! Not sure how well bareroots will take at this point in the season, but it's worth a gamble. I ordered them!!

Would like to try this one for the hummer's for sure!

Fnf, I too ordered some Indian Pinks as part of my master plan to lure hummers to South Venice. I'm not sure how well the Indian Pinks will do down here, but I'm game to try them. Anything to see a hummer here again!
Cathy

Now you've gotten me excited about Indian Pinks, too.

I want to try wintersowing it--does anyone have a line on a good seed source?

I googled about spilegia and found this nice write-up that others might find interesting...

http://books.google.com/books?id=HDij6Fmk2MwC&pg=RA1-PA215&lpg=RA1-PA215&dq=seed+spigelia+marilandica&source=web&ots=wJD1eHFMML&sig=uIXTeZIN2IeG99n3tu0Gf8DOvTc#PRA1-PA214,M1

T, you've done it again. LOL Filling up my Bookmark tool bar! I never really gave shade much consideration until I bought my first hosta this year. Now I'm looking for more color in perennials that can live side by side with my new hostas and coral bells.
I'll have to find a source for Indian Pinks too. Hummers make my pine tree there summer watch tower.

Yes, that was a good link, Tabsco. Thanks!! I think American Meadows nursery has Spigelia seeds--but probably are in large quantities.

All articles I have read so far on Indian Pinks say that these plants are best planted in groups. They will self-sow, or you will have to bag the seed pods to ensure you get the harvest. Easy to miss. So, those are very good tips, indeed.

I expect them to do very well in my garden since part of it is shady, and there is dappled shade everywhere in the summertime. We have a lot of tall oaks around, and the arches going into the herb garden that are covered with wiseria cast shadows at certain times of the day in the summer..

Beautiful garden! Those archs will look gorgeous covered with wisteria.
Cathy

i just adore hummers, and want to start a hummer garden in the spring. any suggestions? oh yeah, excuse me for lurking!

Thanks, f'nf--I'll check into American Meadows. Somehow I missed their listing.

jordankittyjo--good to hear we have another potential HB gardener!

You may want to check out the threads in this forum for lots of good ideas-- no doubt you will want some red salvias and the 'black & blue' salvia probably and some of the vines the HBs like so well like the red Ipomoeas (and maybe a trumpet vine, but many find this one quite invasive and difficult to deal with in a garden setting).

There are detailed discussions going on some of the other threads with Alabama (?) HB specialties mentioned... Good luck.

thanks

Oops, SV--that picture above is the new rose arbor walk garden, which runs along the outside border of the herb garden (to your left and not shown) The herb garden's arches have the wisteria. I think it is Japanese wistera, but it could be American "Amethyst Falls." I need help IDing it, but it hasn't flowered again since I transplanted it to the arches 3 years ago.

Here's one of the entrances to the herb garden. They are cool and shady in the hot summers with the lush wisteria.

By the way, while pruning the wisteria canopy covering the pergola in the herb garden, I found a bird's nest!! So, I think wisteria is a good "birdie" lure, too.

That view is just as wonderful, what a nice way to get to the herb garden. I like the blue fountain in the center, its a great focal point.
I bet all the birds in your neighborhood love your yard the best.
Thanks for the pics!
Cathy

I got my order from Viola Valley. Came shipped in a Priority Mail box and a nest of them were in a ziploc bag.

Carol

My question is, which end do I plant up? Can't tell. Can I just plant them and hope for the best?

Carol
(And yes, I know my pics are a little blurry. I still can't afford to upgrade my camera.) :)

Carol

What did they send? Just a mass of roots. Can you see thicker roots at the top maybe? No sign of new growth at all? Did they send planting instructions? Can you call or email them?

Carol ~ OT but my cheesy camera was doing something similar. I had a couple sets of batteries and found one set would cause the blur... maybe worth a try?

No such luck with my camera. This is as good as it gets. I really want to upgrade to a Kodack. Just need them to hurry up with my disability decision. Can't afford anything right now.

And yes, one large mess of roots. I am going to have to untangle them and make sure that I have all 10. No instructions. Just a ziploc bag dropped in a priority mail box and sent on it's way. Very unprofessional for a company. Could have been packaged better, included a copy of my invoice, and sent me instructions. That second picture was of one that I separated from the rest. I know hard to tell, what it was. To me, it's all root. I will have to contact them. Very frustrating.

Carol

You know, VV is an advertiser in DG classified http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/795105/

I would contact them to let them know I was upset. I am sure they will work it out rather than take a hit in the Garden Watchdog...

Carol... When you untangle those roots, look very closely and se e if you see any nubs along the root sytem. They are a plant that is more root than anythign else. Usually there is a point that bigger than the other, sometimes very tiny that is like the crown. Some Indian Pinks will come up in a single shoot, other will come out from that nub point with double or triple branching. For planting you would be better off planting several of them close together.

The shortest point from the nub to the end is the top, sorry best way I can think to describe it.

Be another week or so before I get into my mes s of a seed box, but I have more Indian Pink seeds and should have plants to share in the spring for those who couldn't get their seed to germinate without hurting my colonies of preservation here. Course the plants may come with a worm or two or a millipede, cu I have found that they usually do not transplant well unles they have a bit of orginal soil around them. Beautiful plants and fussy til they get settled again.

Thank you so very much starlight! I was wondering what to do with these. My lilies, irises and dayliles I understand which end is up, but this, I had no idea. Yay. Now I need to find them a spot.

Carol

Hey, I got my VV order on Thursday, also shipped by FedEx with 3 loose ziploc baggies of bareroot plants inside. I got the planting instructions via e-mail as they don't waste much time packing stuff, obviously. I read their company's "About Us" page on their website and they take a lot of pride in being a small town sensation, with only one post office across the street that still uses an adding machine. LOL!!

I think FedEx shipping eliminates the need for elaborate packaging since the exposure time is considerably shorter than ground mail. But this is the first time I had bareroots sent this way, too. Kind of a "suprise."

We just had snow on Wednesday & Thursday last week which thawed over the weekend. The ground is really mucky now, but I must plant them today or else!!

Ladysaff--good luck with your Indian Pinks, too!!

Thank you Foxnfirefly. I decided to plant them underneath the side edge of my porch. My neighbor came and dug them a trench and tucked them in. So now we wait and see how they'll do.

Carol

P.S. Podster I wouldn't give any company a bad hit anywhere until I had exhausted every other means of communication with them.