All the Dirt on Gardening

Oh how I love blue and purple flowers. And, it turns out you do, too. Blue and purple flowers are the most popular in the nursery trade. Go figure. I would have guessed pinks and reds would win the popularity contest. Nierembergia technical information from U Wisconsin's site "...native to Argentina, is named for Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, a 17 century Spanish Jesuit theologian and naturalist. The taxonomy of this genus (in the potato family or Solanaceae) is rather confused, so the species for cupflower may be listed as caerulea, frutescens, hippomanica or scoparia. It grows neat, spreading mounds about 12-15 inches across. The fine textured foliage is produced on multiple stems, with stiff, linear leaves to one-half inch long. " So, the lovely lavender.purple.blue flower in the photo is Nierenbergia Augusta Blue Skies from Proven Winners. Ball says, "According to an online survey of its fan club, Proven Winners found that purple is by far its end consumers' favo...