Before reading a certain garden blogger’s post I had never heard of a cotton plant with dark foliage (Gossypium herbaceum ‘Nigra’). Then this spring Nancy Ondra of Hayefield emailed me and asked if I would like to try some seeds. Me being the seed collecting addict I am I said of course! She also sent along some seeds for an ornamental corn called ‘Tiger Cub’ and a rice called ‘Red Dragon’. All of these plants were fantastic, interesting, and not yet in my garden. So far of the three types of seeds she sent the cotton has done the best. The rice requires more water than my garden can offer – in an ideal garden it really needs a naturally damp location. I do have a surviving rice plant but it isn’t as happy as I’d like it to be. The corn has pretty well too and is growing cobs which hopefully will provide more seed. But as I said the cotton has done great.
Here’s a look at the nearly black cotton foliage of ‘Nigra’:
The dark foliage of this gossypium would have look awesome planted enmass next to my ‘Powis Castle’ artemisia. Too bad I didn’t think of that! I’ll collect seed this year and give it a try for next year. I really like the combination of silver and dark foliage.
I planted it next to some of the ornamental corn which you can see in the bottom part of the picture above. The cotton is somewhere between 18-24 inches tall. The more sun it gets the better it grows. I planted a few seeds in shadier locations and they haven’t reached the height of this one yet. If you look real close you can see them beginning to flower.
The bud should open up soon into a beautiful pink-red flower which will eventually turn into the fluffy white seed pods where our clothing come from! One of the major crops in West Tennessee is cotton and every fall or winter when we visit relatives the fluffy remains of the cotton harvest are seen floating through the fields. Pretty soon we’ll be picking cotton! But for now we’ll just have to “wait one cotton pickin’ minute”…surely you didn’t think I could pass up that pun!
From the 2013 Nashville Lawn and Garden Show
This past Saturday I went to the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show. The weather outside was a snowy overcast mess so what better way could there be to spend the day than to go somewhere with gardens and plants? We brought the whole family up…
Front Porch for The Garden Shed
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Greenhouse Slideshow
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Cutting Back Miscanthus in the Spring
Among many garden chores that come in spring perhaps the biggest is the trimming of the ornamental grasses. Trimming back perennials can be time consuming but the ornamental grasses can be a bear. It’s not the tiny little hair-like strands of the Nassella tenuissima (Ponytail…
Propagation Update: Asiatic Lily and Viburnum
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Fall Color From Hayefield – Pennsylvania
Garden writer Nancy Ondra never has a disappointing garden photo (at least not that I’ve seen!) This year her fall color project post is as impressive as ever with viburnums, amsonia, winterberry, purple smoke bush and so many other things to look at. I wish…
I've never seen these plants before. They are gorgeous. It would be great to have them in a person's garden.
Being from West Tn. I know about the "white" fields. "One cotton minute" is a favorite saying. lol
I also am not familiar with this plant…so beautiful. I really like the color of the foliage.
Out here in the desert west of Phoenix, we are surrounded by cotton fields. We are just starting to see the white seed heads. After the harvest, many of the rural roads around here will have fluffy, white cotton pieces floating around them.
That cotton is beautiful! If you have enough seeds, would you consider sharing with your loyal readers? 🙂