Saturday, June 23, 2007

Wishbone (Torenia fournieri)



This flower is one I never knew existed until spring last year , these strange baby plants started growing in my annual bed. I called my more experienced gardening neighbor over and she immediately said "don't pull them, just let them grow". I am so glad I let them grown.

If you look into the tubular part of the flower you can acutally see a wishbone. This makes this flower one of my childrens favorites. It also reseeds itself freely, literally whereever the wind takes them.. In this case it came straight to my yard from the neighbors down the street. They also root very easily.. With a few plants I ended up with a full bed..

I have never seen them at the local Nursery's in 6 packs or even flats.. Perhaps in a round 4 or 6 inch pot.. This annual is a labor of love.. It takes some propagating. But it blooms all summer and fall for me.. Even hubby likes this flower..

6 comments:

David (Snappy) said...

What a gorgeous little flower.The wishbone even looks like the one from a chicken.Me and my sister use to wait for it to dry out on a Sunday afternoon to pull the wish between between our pinkys!Hope you can get a Passiflora soon too!

Chrissie said...

This is a very pretty flower, how lovely to just find it in your garden :-) I have never heard of it before but will watch out for it.

Dirty Fingernails said...

I will be on the hunt for that Passion Flower.. Too funny about the chicken wishbone, we did that on Thanksgiving with a turkey bone. I absolutely love it.. I have also heard it called down here Monkey Flower.

Silvia Hoefnagels . Salix Tree said...

That's a cute little flower! I've never seen one before. Just checked my seed catalogue, not in there either. I'm sure I can find a source though, would love to grow this.

Dirty Fingernails said...

i just got back from vacation and saw it more abundantly up in the midwest of the US.. IOWA and ILL .. I was so bummed I didn't have room in the van to bring some home.

RUTH said...

These have just started becoming popular as basket plants here in the uk.