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| 'Siskiyou Pink' 10/12/2010 |
Gaura lindheimeri
'Whirling Butterflies''Crimson Butterflies'
'Siskiyou Pink'
I love the wispy delicate wands of gauras! They wave and bob.
Gaura doesn’t always overwinter, and that was the case with several I planted. I lost 'Whirling Butterflies, which was a pink and white flowered very big, almost bulky plant at the side of the Birch Garden. I really loved the plant in that site; it had mass but was delicate.
I also lost 'Crimson Butterflies', which had dark red stems and leaves and was a wispier, more open plant.
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| 'Whirling Butterflies' 9/14/09 didn't come back |
I finally gave up on garden plants, and put two gauras in pots that I bring in to the unheated porch over winter. I think they are 'Siskiyou Pink' but I'm not completely sure.
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| 6/24/10 |
They bloomed all spring, then stopped for a while in midsummer, but by late summer and into fall they were constantly in flower.
Gaura really likes dry infertile soil.
It may be cut back by half in late spring to control size. They have a taproot, so try not to move it.
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| 6/24/10 |
The pots that wintered over on the porch in 2010 - 2011 came back strong. Here, in early March, 'Siskiyou Pink' is putting out strong new growth:
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| March 12, 2011, leafing out and greening up. |
I planted them along the front walk in 2011. The delicate pink blooms work well with the strong pink sedum below, and the brick behind.
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| 7/3/11 |
They add some looseness and delicacy to this structured, narrow strip.
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| 7/3/11 |
They came back lush and full in 2012. They like the hot, dry, south facing sunny strip along the walk, and go beautifully with the hot pink flowering sedum.
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| 6/27/12 |
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| 7/8/12 |
In 2013 the two gauras were still in the front strip, but very diminished. They came up very late, and the clumps were each a third of the size they had been, maybe less. They were very crowded by the tall sedums and other plants.
A few wands of bobbing pink flowers appeared above the other plants, as you can see in the photo below, and they were pretty, but very sparse.
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| 8/16/13 a few stems of gaura blooming |
Even as a very sparse plant they are nice, especially against the dark sedums below, and add lightness and a little movement to this narrow area.
But they are not perennials. The ones along the front walk did not come back in 2014.
I added a couple light, open, airy small gauras in back, one in the Blueberry Garden and one in Meadow's Edge late in the summer, and they were pretty. I like how this white gaura bounced in front of the blue obelisk.
And I put some in a pot on the porch to winter over and I'll plant them out in the spring, and then simply buy some more. They don't come back each year, and I always think I'll just be done with them, but then I miss their pretty airiness in the summer garden, so I'll just get more each year.
In 2015 i put a gaura plant n a tall terra cotta container and it did well on the patio.
A guara in the blueberry garden looked nice, very rosy pink and delicate.
Another container of pink guara that I put near the patio wall looked nice well into fall.
Gaura is not really for my garden. I don't have the sharp drainage or dry winter conditions or mild temperatures it needs. I can get some pretty flowers by putting immature clumps in a container, and that's nice. I can get a nice mound to grow and produce lovely wands in the garden for a season, but that's it.
Still. A pretty plant and one I continue to want, even if I have to plant it as an annual or put it in a pot.
But they are not perennials. The ones along the front walk did not come back in 2014.
I added a couple light, open, airy small gauras in back, one in the Blueberry Garden and one in Meadow's Edge late in the summer, and they were pretty. I like how this white gaura bounced in front of the blue obelisk.
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| 8/14/14 |
And I put some in a pot on the porch to winter over and I'll plant them out in the spring, and then simply buy some more. They don't come back each year, and I always think I'll just be done with them, but then I miss their pretty airiness in the summer garden, so I'll just get more each year.
In 2015 i put a gaura plant n a tall terra cotta container and it did well on the patio.
 |
| 8/27/15 |
A guara in the blueberry garden looked nice, very rosy pink and delicate.
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| 9/16/15 |
Another container of pink guara that I put near the patio wall looked nice well into fall.
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| 10/15/15 |
Gaura is not really for my garden. I don't have the sharp drainage or dry winter conditions or mild temperatures it needs. I can get some pretty flowers by putting immature clumps in a container, and that's nice. I can get a nice mound to grow and produce lovely wands in the garden for a season, but that's it.
Still. A pretty plant and one I continue to want, even if I have to plant it as an annual or put it in a pot.
