Joy Creek Plant Introductions, Part 3

As part of our Joy Creek Times for 2007, we are reviewing the plants that Joy Creek Nursery has developed and introduced. In the last installment we ended at the year 1999.

In 2000, we introduced three new plants: Euphorbia 'Mocha Gekko,' Knautia 'Ruby Star' and Origanum 'Yellow Flicker.'

For all of our attempts to be clear-headed, we sometimes get caught up in fads. In 1999, the purple-leafed Euphorbia dulcis 'Chameleon' was one of the hottest plants in retail markets in the Northwest. Unfortunately, few had long-term experience with this plant. We found a seedling of 'Chameleon' that had leaves the color of hot chocolate, so we named it 'Mocha Gekko' to play off of the name of its parent. We sold this for one year. Through experience, we learned that Euphorbia dulcis is a notorious self-seeder in the Pacific Northwest. It became difficult to keep our stock true and we no longer have this plant in production at our nursery.

We had much better luck with one of our favorite long-blooming perennials, Knautia 'Ruby Star.' Mike spotted this seedling of Knautia macedonica in our stock-fields. At 18 inches in height it was half the height of the species form that we grow. The name derives from the inch-wide flowers that are rich purple red with tiny specks of white in their centers. We now grow this in the red area of our Four Seasons Garden where its summer-to-autumn bloom keeps the color theme in play as more ephemeral bloomers come and go.

Origanum 'Yellow Flicker' is a bit of an enigma. It is a seedling of Origanum vulgare that we found in our Dry Border. It has all the characteristics of culinary oregano, however, it has one very distinct and curious feature. Early in the summer, as our heat comes on, its leaves begin to be flecked with golden variegation which it holds until the fall. The year after we discovered this herb, we thought our specimen had reverted to an all-green leaf form and we were in the process of disposing of it when over-night the gold markings on the leaves became visible. Perhaps this one should have been called 'Chameleon'! But as it was, we have many Yellow-shafted Flickers that flit through the nursery and we were inspired by them for the name.

Read previous entries about Joy Creek introductions here and here.

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