Thursday, September 17, 2009

Plant of the Week: Monkey Faces



I'm thoroughly convinced that Mimulus aurantiacus will save the world someday. First of all, their happy little laughing faces dare you not to smile. Second of all, this plant will remain as perky as ever after being subjected to the cruel and unusual punishment of a transplant in blasting hot weather. Most commonly you will see orange mimulus, but numerous hybrids and variations have produced creamy white, apricot and my new favorite deep burgundy. The variety pictured here is 'Jack' (I think).

Soil: any as long as it is well-drained
Sun: full to part shade
Plant: as mentioned above plant anytime you like.
Buy it: Annie's has some lovely selections, but not all are native to CA, Oaktown Native Nursery also seems to carry a few
Good for: any problem area you have where you need something to happily work without too much of your help. Also will bring hummingbirds in droves!



One note to anyone wanting to research further: the new Jepson manual recently merged Displacus and Mimulus into Mimulus. If you're having a hard time finding information on Mimulus aurantiacus, try looking for Displacus aurantiacus.

2 comments:

  1. You are so right about the color, just lovely.....note to self.....must get a few for the new planter areas....

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  2. They're hard to deny, aren't they?

    ReplyDelete