Some of the new plants that we try each year are just a different species of a familiar genus. Some I've never even heard of at all. Such was the case with Amberboa muricata 'Sweet Sultan'.
It looks a lot like your basic centaurea (bachelor's button), and both plants are in the same family, so I'm not sure what distinguishes one from the other. But my husband was intrigued by the picture in the Thompson and Morgan catalog, and so we ended up starting some of the seeds last winter.
The young leaves in the cells looked so much like calendula that I inadvertently planted the amberboa in an area that I had intended only for yellow flowers. Ah, well. I can always say that I intended its purple blooms to provide a contrast.
Although all of the Calendula 'Sherbet Fizz' that I planted melted away under the strong spring rains and winds, the amberboa hung in there. The 18- to 24-inch plant started blooming in early July, and even though I've been negligent in deadheading it—I haven't done anything in the yard for weeks, it's been so hot!—it still has buds.
Amberboa is an annual, so I'll have to decide if I want to grow it again, but it's easy to germinate, tough in the face of environmental adversity, and adds a nice bit of color, so we'll see!
The young leaves in the cells looked so much like calendula that I inadvertently planted the amberboa in an area that I had intended only for yellow flowers. Ah, well. I can always say that I intended its purple blooms to provide a contrast.
Although all of the Calendula 'Sherbet Fizz' that I planted melted away under the strong spring rains and winds, the amberboa hung in there. The 18- to 24-inch plant started blooming in early July, and even though I've been negligent in deadheading it—I haven't done anything in the yard for weeks, it's been so hot!—it still has buds.
Amberboa is an annual, so I'll have to decide if I want to grow it again, but it's easy to germinate, tough in the face of environmental adversity, and adds a nice bit of color, so we'll see!
