librarian2003 (librarian2003) wrote in weagardening, @ 2009-04-20 23:11:00 |
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Week 8 - Plant of the Week - Indigofera
Our Plant of the week is Indigofera amblyantha.
GARDENING FOR PLEASURE
Plant of the Week
Indigofera amblyantha AGM : Family Fabaceae
In the same genus as Indigofera tinctoria, the indigo plant, which is a tropical herb, is a clutch of medium-sized deciduous shrubs with very pretty pink or purple pea flowers. These flowers are set off well by the elegant, compound leaves. The shrubs will grow outside in our climate, provided they have some shelter, plenty of sunshine and a light soil in which to grow.
The choicest and perhaps most useful, is Indigofera amblyantha, a shrub from central China which makes an erect, sparsely branched shrub up to 6ft tall; from the axils of the young shoots come vertical racemes of pea flowers. The racemes are up to 4in long, and the closely spaced flowers are shrimp-pink in colour. These first appear at the end of June, but continue to flower well into October, and are a beacon of interest in the shrub border in August.
The leaf shoots are hairy when young and carry up to 11 mid-green, hairy, oval leaflets, each about 1in long. These flowers are finally followed by hairy pods. Indigofera amblyantha is probably the hardiest of those available, so it should be the choice for northern gardens. This indigofera is especially useful because of its immensely long flowering season.
Indigoferas come from China or the Himalayas and do not thrive in cold, windy situations. Even when grown against a protective wall or fence, they sometimes lose their shoots in winter to cold, but new shoots will break again in the spring. It is good practice to cut out the unsightly dead wood in late spring. Plants that have not suffered in this way can still be hard-pruned and will produce lots of young, flowering shoots.
These shrubs should be planted in free-draining soil and in full sun, but they are not fussy as to pH, growing even on chalk. They can be propagated by seed in a cold frame in autumn or early spring, or by semi-ripe cuttings taken in summer and put in a closed propagator with bottom heat, greenwood cuttings in late spring or basal cuttings in spring.
Indigofera are free of pests and diseases.
Good companions
In a sunny shrub border, indigofera looks good if associated with pink or white repeat-flowering climbing roses, such as 'Pink Perpétué' or 'Madame Alfred Carrière', as well as modern shrub roses. Strong pinks such as 'Gertrude Jekyll' or 'Bonica' are ideal.
Suitable shrubs that flower at the same time include escallonias, Elsholtzia stauntonii, Buddleia davidii cultivars, the white-flowered Potentilla fruticosa 'Abbotswood', Perovskia atriplicifolia, Caryopteris x clandonensis 'Kew Blue' and summer-flowering hebes, such as 'Midsummer Beauty'.
A late, small-flowered clematis, such as Clematis viticella, would look charming clambering through the indigofera. Herbaceous perennials which enjoy the same conditions, and which have sympathetic colours, include echinaceas, diascias, penstemons, eryngium and agapanthus.
Jo Hanslip
March 2009
Images are at Photobucket