There's Hope
I wanted a desert willow tree to plant by the garage corner, and I specifically hunted for a white flowered one. Desert willow (Chilopsis linearis) usually has purple pink flowers, and the color is not to my taste. I'm not a fan of magenta flowers. But there are varieties that are light pink, and some that are white.
When I found a chilopsis with a tag that said it was a white flowered variety, I snapped it up. It was Chilopsis linearis 'Hope'. How perfect was that?
A few weeks after I planted it, my white flowered 'Hope' desert willow bloomed:
I'll keep it, magenta flowers and all. I think it's 'Lucretia Hamilton', a common one with deep purple pink flowers sold by the same nursery and obviously mis-tagged, which is something that happens ALL THE TIME in nurseries.
Chilopsis is a tough New Mexico native that grows in arroyos, so it can take days of standing in floodwater followed by weeks of no rain at all. It wants very hot temperatures and alternating bone dry and standing water conditions.
It's not a willow at all, it just has narrow leaves that look like willow leaves. Despite being a really tough plant, it is covered in showy, frilly flowers and it can be an elegant shape if pruned. I've gotten good at limbing up small trees over the years, and I can keep this little tree shaped nicely. It's close by the garage, and it's what we'll see coming up the driveway. I'll keep it shapely.
So despite my frustrations at once again getting a mislabeled plant (I've had it happen so many times), how could I not keep a plant that wants to grow in homicidal conditions and blooms its heart out at 4 inches tall? It was just planted a few weeks ago, in hot dry sand by the driveway,
Look at the conditions it's growing (and blooming) in. I'm watering the little thing frequently to get it started, but even so, this is the definition of hope in a garden.
I just wish it was actually 'Hope', the beautifully named white one I thought I bought.
Jim looked out at the driveway the other day and said "what's that dirt spot there?" I told him that dirt spot was where a small, elegantly pruned magenta flowered tree would be some day, whether it ever rains enough again or not.
He looked very skeptical, but I told him there's hope, and there is.
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| White flowered Chilopsis linearis (Desert willow) |
When I found a chilopsis with a tag that said it was a white flowered variety, I snapped it up. It was Chilopsis linearis 'Hope'. How perfect was that?
A few weeks after I planted it, my white flowered 'Hope' desert willow bloomed:
 |
| The tag said "white flowered" and the name was Chilopsis linearis 'Hope' |
Chilopsis is a tough New Mexico native that grows in arroyos, so it can take days of standing in floodwater followed by weeks of no rain at all. It wants very hot temperatures and alternating bone dry and standing water conditions.
It's not a willow at all, it just has narrow leaves that look like willow leaves. Despite being a really tough plant, it is covered in showy, frilly flowers and it can be an elegant shape if pruned. I've gotten good at limbing up small trees over the years, and I can keep this little tree shaped nicely. It's close by the garage, and it's what we'll see coming up the driveway. I'll keep it shapely.
So despite my frustrations at once again getting a mislabeled plant (I've had it happen so many times), how could I not keep a plant that wants to grow in homicidal conditions and blooms its heart out at 4 inches tall? It was just planted a few weeks ago, in hot dry sand by the driveway,
 |
| Would you want to grow in these conditions? |
Look at the conditions it's growing (and blooming) in. I'm watering the little thing frequently to get it started, but even so, this is the definition of hope in a garden.
I just wish it was actually 'Hope', the beautifully named white one I thought I bought.
 |
| Flowers of 'Lucretia Hamilton' in sunshine -- more pink, less magenta. |
Jim looked out at the driveway the other day and said "what's that dirt spot there?" I told him that dirt spot was where a small, elegantly pruned magenta flowered tree would be some day, whether it ever rains enough again or not.
He looked very skeptical, but I told him there's hope, and there is.
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