Trailers for sale or rent, the old Roger Miller song, could refer to the trailing plants and hanging baskets people buy at this time of the year. For a few bucks you can have a “trailer” that makes you look like the “king of the road” or the front porch I suppose. Mom will feel like a queen when she receives these trailing plants in hanging pots for Mothers Day. Today the available varieties are amazing! Calibrachoa (pictured above) look like miniature petunias and are floriforous! Calibrachoa isn’t a user friendly name, sounds like something Julie Andrews would sing in a Mary Poppins movie……..(SupercalifragilisticCalibrachoaexpealidocious!) There I go again, associating songs with plants to remember their names, it’s just how my mind works. To make it easier, some people refer to Calibrachoa as “Million bells.” Whatever you call them, they bloom their heads off!
Bacopa is another favorite of mine. It is a “trailer” with a name that makes me think of the Barry Manilow song, Copa Cobana, one of my favorite songs to sing during Karaoke. Also known as Sutera, I consider it a “trigger” plant. In other words, mixed in with other plants in a hanging basket, this flower can trigger a response to water the basket because at a glance it will indicate to you if the basket is dry. As a matter of fact, it’s perfect for northern climates with cooler summers, and does well with some afternoon shade on the north or east side of the house.
Another “trailer” for sale or rent included in many hanging basket assortments is Lamium. This ornamental trailer or groundcover is easily grown and is a relative of a nasty weed called stinging nettle. Lamium lacks the stinging hairs giving the plant it’s common name of “dead nettles.” No a song doesn’t come to mind, but dead nettle sounds like a band that would have played at Woodstock or had it’s start in a nightclub in Seattle. The plant has beautiful foliage and unique flowers, commonly used as a vigorous perennial groundcover in shade. You can enjoy this “trailer” in your basket mix this summer, then plant it in a shaded area of the landscape this fall. Next spring you can either let it grow as a groundcover or dig it up and use it in containers again.
Another “trailer” for sale is Plectranthus. This plant sounds like a song about a dinosaur in a kid’s show. Buy a small pot of this in May and put it in your containers or baskets and it will grow so fast it will require a new zip code by the end of summer. Easy to grow and beautiful!
Finally a favorite of mine, Scaevola. This plant sounds like a Broadway production (Scaevola!) or something you ate at the Olive Garden last night. A great “trailer” for hot sunny areas because it’s native to Australia. Perfect for baskets or containers, due to it’s shape, it’s also known as “Fan Flower” or “Hand Flower.” No deadheading necessary on this plant (sorry Jerry Garcia). This tough reliable bloomer has been known to entice a visit from a hummingbird now and then at my house in the summer.
There are so many more “trailers” I could mention, so stay tuned. Your flowers don’t have to be a “basket case”……try some of these trailers and be King of the Road (or deck, porch, patio, etc.)
Make sure to visit my favorite garden center. Flowerland stores are located in Grand Rapids Michigan. Visit them on line, click here for myflowerland.com at http://www.myflowerland.com
