All the Dirt on Gardening

Abutilon is an exotic hibiscus relative that is container grown as a houseplant. Plant Delights has a wonderful and tempting variety of  seven selections that I'd love to grow. Their flowers resemble Mallow because they are related. Abutilon Canary Bird has buttery yellow flowers. Fool's Gold looks like it has a weird orangey flower color. Orange Hot Lava is much prettier to me, more like rainbow sherbet. Abutilon megapotamicum flowers are a rosy-pink with a cream colored skirt. Abutilon megapotamicum 'Ines' has predominantly cream flowers with a pink cap. Pink Charm is two-tone pink and Voodoo has deep red flowers.   Tony Avent's catalog at Plant Delights says they are hardy from zones 7b to 10b and we are in zone 7a. The one in the photo was in Anne Pinc's Tulsa garden and it was a spectacular specimen but I suspect she could grow anything.   I recently ordered seeds from Outside Pride and can recommend their seeds as germinating like crazy. Als...

After a lifetime of growing plants for her customers, Anne Pinc knows what succeeds in our area. There will be only two more chances to buy from Pinc at the Cherry Street Farmer’s Market in Tulsa ( http://www.cherrystreetfarmersmarket.com ) since she stops selling at the end of May. The Cherry St. Farmer’s Market is open Saturdays from 7 to 11 a.m. on 15 th St. near Peoria St., and it is so popular that many people plan to arrive well before the opening hour. Here are some of the many plants to look for that she grows and recommends for area gardens – Pinc grows several varieties of the ever-popular Clematis vine. Clematis is generally reliable in our area, climbing fences, trellises and shrubs and blooming with white, purple, red or pink single flowers. They thrive with 5-hours of daily sun, neutral soil that has plenty of compost added and weekly watering. Shade loving Hostas range in size from miniature to quite large and have colors from deep green to bright yellow-...