Twenty years ago something odd happened in the plant world, and as I look back now, I realize it flew under the radar. In 1997 a new plant called New Wonder Scaevola won the Georgia Gold Medal, Mississippi Medallion, and Louisiana Select awards. That trifecta was indeed quite rare. This little plant from Australia captured the imagination of the green industry with its fan-shaped flowers and rugged persevering performance.
Now 20 years later, the variety New Wonder Scaevola has won countless other awards but now has more competing varieties than most of us could have ever imagined. I have always been partial to the varieties that have various shades of blue.
This year, however, some of the other colors have caught my attention. Bombay Pink has stunned me at the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens. First, know that I am not a pink guy. But Holy Wow, Bombay Pink is not only performing like the perfect spiller plant in mixed containers but is also packing the most flower power I have ever seen on a Scaevola.
We have several in large containers, mixed with blood-leaf bananas, bromeliads, SunPatiens, and Silver Falls dichondra for a most exotic look. All are performing at a superior level.
Another I am watching is Purple Haze. I still considered it a blue until all of my photographs convinced me it is indeed a rare shade of purple. We have it with Lavender, SunPatiens, and Gold Mound duranta for an absolutely dreamy combination. We are also using it in the landscape with white pentas and pink Telstar dianthus that are still blooming as we head into July.
Another new selection that has caught my attention this year is Surdiva Blue Violet. This one picks up the best of both blue and violet. It is compact yet still can tumble over an edge. It will have you asking, how do you get that many flowers on one plant? It is amazing and has winner written all of it.
One of my favorite combinations has it partnered with the new Sun Parasol Apricot Mandevilla. This pastel apricot and vibrant blue violet creates a rare partnership in the world of flowers.
Scaevolas do best when given plenty of sun and planted in fertile, organic-rich, well-drained beds. Wet, soggy conditions are not satisfactory. This is one of the reasons they are amazing in containers. But they will do equally well in the landscape if you amend heavy soils or poorly drained locations by adding 3 to 4 inches of organic matter and tilling or shoveling to a depth of 6 to 8 inches.
Plant your Scaevola at the same depth it is growing in the container, spacing the plants 12 to 18 inches apart or by varietal tag recommendations. Apply a layer of mulch after planting.
They are very drought-tolerant once established in the landscape, but those in containers will need watering daily just like any other containers. Scaevolas are the perfect front of the border plant reaching 8 to 10 inches in height and spreading outward 18 to 24 inches. The blue shades do one other remarkable thing to me, and that is they seem to nearly glow as the sun sets for the evening.
If for some reason you have never tried Scaevola in the summer landscape or your mixed containers you are missing one of the best. They come in shades of blue, pink and white and are among the most durable of summer annuals.
