Amour In The Garden

Today, my wedding anniversary, got me thinking about several plants (or cultivars) i have in which the names involve "love" themes. These are a few i have:

i grew Cardiospermum halicacabum, AKA Love In A Puff or Heartseed Vine, for the first time last season, thinking it was perennial. Well, it didn't come back, but the seeds i saved sprouted slowly but easily for me, so i do still have it. I was impressed by this little (up to 8 feet) vine.The leaves are a very elegant shape, and the seedpods are three sided puffballs.

The flowers are not so great - tiny, delicate, and white, but it didn't really bother me. Then when i saw the seeds! - well, i didn't research this one well, i figured the name came about because of the seedpods' shape, but that wasn't all! The seeds are about 4mm in diameter, very dark, nearly black, except for a white HEART shaped mark on each one!

That clinched it - i will be growing this one for a long time!

Then there's Love In A Mist (Nigella), which has that elusive sky blue color of blossoms seldom seen in the garden. (There are also pinks and whites available, but the blue is all i want!) This is what i call a "perennial annual" because, even though each plant is annual, it seeds itself so enthusiastically that you'll never be without it again! This, like Perilla, doesn't bother me with its reseeding. It is easy to pull out and shows up in places like pots and flower beds where i leave it until after it blooms.

The foliage is so ferny that it does look like mist, and then when the seedpods form, they look like little striped hot air balloons, thus the reason it is also sometimes called "Love In A Puff". The dried seedpods are used a lot in floral arrangements.

First grown in the United States by Thomas Jefferson, Kiss-Me-Over-The-Garden-Gate,(Polygonum orientale), is also an annual old cottage garden favorite, but the plant is not found in cultivation very often.

Of course, when i first heard the name, i had to find it! It is, of course, growing by the garden gate, where it reaches heights of around 8 feet, and droops its long clusters of bright pink flowers above my head. It also reseeds, though in my experience not a whole lot, just enough to keep it going.

i also want, though have not been able to find, the Hosta cultivar "Illicit Affair". Is it an outstanding variety? Not so much - just want to tell visitors, "I wanted to have an Illicit Affair in the garden, and all I got was this stupid Hosta!"