The Most Unusual Plants
By Chris Edmunds
From beautiful colors to odd shapes, some of our Kaw Valley favorites are the most unusual plants!
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The more peculiar-looking, the better! From beautiful colors to odd shapes, some of our Kaw Valley favorites are the most unusual plants! Their distinctive qualities make these plants stand out in any container garden.
Unique Petunias
The Petunia’s Night Sky is the most unique petunia yet! Their flowers look like a night sky with their starry white speckled pattern on purple-blue backing. Each flower is different from the rest. You’ll want to put them in a sunny spot on your patio so you can enjoy their bloom and the wonderful butterflies they attract!
These gorgeous plants are easy to grow and can reach up to 10 inches tall and 24 inches wide. Unlike the rest of the plants our garden centers carry, our experts haven’t finished trial-testing them, and it can lose its spots in hot weather. But this plant is so special that we couldn’t resist carrying even a limited amount this season at our garden centers. Over the summer, our garden center in Overland Park will finish testing them and we hope to have a larger selection next season!
Another Kaw Valley favorite petunia worth noting for its unique color is the Petunia ‘Black Magic’. You’ll enjoy their distinctly colored velvety black flowers mixed in with pastels or other bright colored plants in your container garden! They are excellent performers, easy to grow, and are well-suited for our midwestern climate.
Visit any of our garden center locations to get your special petunias!
Calibrachoas
The Calibrachoa hybrid ‘Superbells Tropical Sunrise’ is best known for its “tie-dye” pattern: a kaleidoscope of bright coral, rose, and primrose! These stunning flowers bloom all season, so you’ll enjoy them spring, summer and fall. You’ll even save time with these low-maintenance and self-cleaning plants, no deadheading necessary! They are perfect for any container garden.
Another of our favorite unusual plants, and also from Proven Winners™ ‘Superbells’ collection is ‘Superbells Evening Star’. This stunner has different shades of lavender flowers, with a very large, bright golden-yellow star-shaped throat outlined with a dark blue-violet “eye zone”. Enough to make you weep, it’s so gorgeous! These heat-tolerant Calibrachoas are well-suited for hanging baskets or patio pots to showcase their gorgeous blooms.
You’ll keep your Calibrachoas healthy by planting them in quality potting soil, such as our Kaw Valley “Good Stuff” potting soil. Since Calibrachoas are pH-sensitive, they’ll need to be in well-draining soil and only watered after the top of the soil is completely dry. These heat-tolerant hybrids will flourish in any sunny spot here in Kansas.
If you’ve had problems with the blooms on Calibrachoas or Petunias disappearing all of a sudden, you probably live in an area with budworm. Look for the start of holes in the blooms or buds and treat with Captain Jack’s Deadbug Brew as soon as you see any. The spray is safe to use for organic growing and we carry ready-to-use spray bottles at our garden centers. If used once a week starting in early June, it should take care of these pests and you’ll be well rewarded with cascades of blooms of the widest range of colors imaginable!
Cigar Plant
Another favorite unusual plant can be found in the Cigar Plant, also known as the Cuphea hybrid ‘Vermillionaire’. They are best known for their bright orange, tubular flowers with white tips resembling cigars!
Not only are they a hummingbird magnet, but they are a heat-tolerant annual from Proven Winners™. You can enjoy these easy-to-grow plants mixed in with any of your container gardens. They bloom best in full or partial sun spots in your yard or patio.
You can find any of these bright colored and oddly shaped plants at any of our garden center locations this season.
Adding one-of-a-kind plants to your container garden is a great way to enhance your yard this summer! You’ll keep your gorgeous plants healthy by planting them in the right potting soil, watering sufficiently, and placing them in a sunny spot!
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