From: amz@cis.ohio-state.edu (Arnold M Zwicky)
Subject: hardy versions of usually tender plants
Date: 19 Aug 1993 10:37:53 -0400

blooming right now in our garden are three plants that are
(or at least that we like to think of as) hardy versions of
usually tender plants.

the first of these is hibiscus moscheutos, rose mallow, in a hybrid
variety from park's (grown from seed many years ago).  we think of this
as a hardy correspondent to the "real" hibiscus of warmer climes
(though hibiscus syriacus, rose-of-sharon, ought to have a shot at
that title, too).  huge flowers, nice foliage.  ours is a deep
red; i see that park's is still selling them in pink, red, and white.

the second is a hardy gladiolus that i got from park's in 1978.
both park's and wayside gardens still sell them, in a variety of
colors, but they are described in those catalogs as spring-blooming
miniatures, while ours are high-summer bloomers and several feet
tall.  two spikes of stunning orange-red flowers out there right now;
they look just like the standard gladiolus to us.

the third is a hardy begonia, which i bought under the name
"begonia evansiana" (a synonym for begonia grandis, Hortus Three
tells me) some time before 1977, when i started keeping records
of garden events.  it lives happily in shade under some shrubs,
in front of the compost heap and in back of stands of alchemilla
and asperula.  pretty heart-shaped leaves and delicate pink flowers.

all three share two properties.  in twenty or more years, none has
ever shown any problem with insects or disease.  and all appear quite
late in the season, sometime in june, so that it's easy to imagine
they've all just up and died this year (and it's easy to forget where
they are).

oh, yes, we also have some korean box, rather than the too-tender
"real" boxwood.  it blooms very early in the spring, giving us
about two days when the whole garden is sweetly scented from an
invisible source (its flowers are very small and yellowish-green,
eminently missable).  otherwise it just sits there, growing at
a glacial pace and looking dark green.

a crape myrtle that was reliably hardy here in mid-ohio would
be nice...

arnold