Most gardeners have had the experience of trying hard to get a plant to thrive and finally giving up, only to have the plant rebound from a total lack of care. Such is the case with our Torenia, now growing randomly by the waterfall pond near the MOSI entrance.
We first planted Torenia in this location a few years ago, having read that it enjoyed moist soil and part shade, which is exactly what this location offers. At first, the little blooms were fantastic and colorful, but within weeks the plants nearly all looked terrible. We pampered them for a bit, and then pulled them out and replaced them with other annuals, never giving the Torenia another thought.
We couldn’t help but be amused when, a year later, we noticed Torenia happily blooming away in this very spot. Whether it grew from root or seed, we don’t know, but now it returns late each summer, mingling with whatever is currently planted there.
Torenia is also known as Wishbone Flower, and its “full name” is Torenia fournieri (named for two botanists, Olaf Toren and Eugene Fornier). It’s native to India and other parts of Asia, and is generally grown as an annual. Though it’s often touted as an easy flower to grow, a search of forums like Dave’s Garden shows that many people struggle with this plant. It’s said to want consistently moist soil, yet seems to be easy to overwater.
The University of Florida IFAS extension notes, “Older varieties of torenia didn't always thrive in Florida, but the new Summer Wave® series of torenia is tolerant of heat, heavy rains, and occasionally dry soils.” They recommend planting in part shade in moist fertile soil and fertilizing every two to four weeks - that seems like a lot of feeding for an “easy to grow” plant, doesn’t it?
Our conclusion on Torenia is that it’s not quite as easy to grow as the plant tag would lead you to believe. It has no nectar value for butterflies, so it’s just too much work for our gardens. But, if allowed to pop up where it will, this little bloom can do quite well on its own. By letting the Torenia tell us where it wants to grow, we can have it in our gardens with no work on our part – we’ll just take it as a pleasant little gift at the end of a long, hot summer.
It does seem like a lot of work but what a cute little bloom it holds. Glad it pops up for you now.
ReplyDeleteI have some planted around a shady oak tree out front with some coleus. The front of the tree that gets more sunlight has a thriving patch of torenia. The other side of the tree has dying torenia and coleus plants. One day it looked like something had fallen on top of the coleus on that side..three plants were broken at the base, there was disturbed soil and mulch and some mounds..like a squirrel buried something?, and I found several bird feathers. I still don't know what happened to that spot but the torenia and coleus don't want to grow back..it is literally opposite of the other side of the tree where the torenia and coleus are huge and colorful. The torenia on the 'bad side' looks limp and it even looks rotting underneath like it is too wet..not sure how two sides of the same tree can get different water but maybe it is filtering too much water from a spot I can't see? Perhaps I need to put an umbrella over this spot to get anything to grow.
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