Thursday, October 10, 2013

Rabdosia longituba


At long, long last this beauty has bloomed. Rabdosia longituba is a plant I acquired from Ed Bowen at Opus Nursery two summers ago. I loved its quirky name, its bright foliage, and I was lured in by the promise of late purple flowers. Well, that first year I kept it in a pot for too long and in October I desperately stuck it in the garden. I was sure it would die. In the spring there was no sign of life for awhile, and then one little shoot appeared. In September this year it put out some delicate little dangling purple droplet buds! That alone was thrilling, until yesterday when I caught its little flickering flowers aglow in that low afternoon light.