Centranthus ruber, also called red Valerian
From Payne's in spring 2020
Expectations:
Let this dry out between waterings. Wants hot, dry, alkaline soil.There's a great article here from the Santa Fe Botanical Garden on this plant.
There are large impressive colonies of this at Dancing Ground Park.
Experiences:
I took out the struggling stand of fulgida black-eyed Susans in the potting bench curve and put in a Jupiter's Beard.
It will be full, tall, need little water, and it will have a presence in front of the wall all spring and summer that the black-eyed Susans didn't.
The soft red flowers are long lasting and look good with the gray blue lambsear in front of it.
The plant I got was not marked, so I assume it is the straight species red valerian, which is rosier rather than redder I think.
In 2023, after 3 years, it was still a small plant -- it will get much, much bigger, but it did have some upright presence already.
In 2024 it was a bit bigger but not by much. It may be in too much shade up against the wall. But it did look nice, bloomed well, and fills that spot nicely.
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| 2024 |
I'm not crazy about the rose pink flower color, but this is an easy to grow plant and should do well.