year round blooming perennial for zone 10

Discussion in 'Outdoor Tropicals' started by khabbab, Feb 22, 2009.

  1. khabbab

    khabbab Active Member

    Messages:
    38
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Pakistan, Lahore
    hello,

    can someone suggest a showy or fragrant blooming perennial for zone 10 which will bloom almost all year. my winters go not beyond 5c and summers are very hot and have moonsoon in july/august.


    thanks,
    khabbab
     
  2. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    4,776
    Likes Received:
    6
    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    Here are a few options, all of which will work in your climate (because they work in mine, which is very similar). The links go to my own photos of the plants.

    * Both showy and fragrant: Mirabilis jalapa - Four O'Clocks. For me, these bloom all year, and tolerate my wet season (which is similar to your monsoons) very well.
    * A bit less showy, but delicious-smelling: Heliotropium arborescens - Tree heliotrope. Tree is a bit of a misnomer, but it does form a nice woody shrub and the scent is amazing. It will attract butterflies and bees to your yard.
    * Tecoma stans, if properly pruned, will remain a shrub or hedge, and covered in yellow flowers for most of the year.
    * Cleome are showy without being fragrant, and self-seeding.
    * Members of the genus Tibouchina are delicately fragrant and bloom year-round.
    * Equally, although not fragrant, the stunningly showy genus Fuchsia is a hardy year-round bloomer in warm climates like yours. Look for the Ecuadorian varieties - they are hardier than the commercial ones.
    * The Passifloras are another good choice if you have space for a vine - stunningly beautiful and extremely fragrant flowers, with the added bonus of edible fruit later on.
    * Finally, Lantana camara, if you keep it contained, is a lovely year-round bloomer with lightly fragrant flowers that shade from orange to yellow or from fuschia pink to white. It has the possibility to become invasive, although your winter may be enough to discourage it from spreading too vigorously.

    To source most of these for Pakistan, I'd reccomend looking at B&T World Seeds - they are most likely to have these plants. Four-o-clocks should be available locally.
     
  3. K Baron

    K Baron Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    1,031
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    North Vancouver, B.C., Canada
    Or for just incredible vibrant colours, try growing Bouganvillea, which is worth looking into. Water when growth spurts, prune heavily in the spring, protect from unusual frost (If your garden ever freezes...though you say it stays above 5 celsius? Buy the single blooms, they look much better overall than the double blooms.) They are very tropical looking and spectacular when in bloom...
     
  4. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    4,776
    Likes Received:
    6
    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    They just don't smell at all, really.
     
  5. K Baron

    K Baron Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    1,031
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    North Vancouver, B.C., Canada
    This I know, but you can't beat those staggering exotic and blissful colours!
     
  6. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    4,776
    Likes Received:
    6
    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    I'm playing devil's advocate, really. I have hedges of Bougainvillea in salmon, hot pink, and peppermint-stripe variegated. The bracts of the hot-pink ones make a lovely tea.
     
  7. K Baron

    K Baron Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    1,031
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    North Vancouver, B.C., Canada
    I have heard that some people smoke it too?
     
  8. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    4,776
    Likes Received:
    6
    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    Not here.
     
  9. Dave-Florida

    Dave-Florida Active Member

    Messages:
    409
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Vero Beach, Fla., USA
    http://www.ucm.es/info/cif/data/index.htm

    The phytosociology program at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid has an interesting climate website. They classify Lahore's climate as "low thermotropical upper semiarid". Other places with the same climate are
    Amritsar, India
    Huarirenda, Bolivia (a lowland location)
    Tete New Mil Afl, Mozambique (=Tete?)
    Veraval India (Gujarat state, I assume)
    Broome Australia (more or less south of western Timor, Indonesia)
    Geneirna Sudan

    Bougainvilleas ought to thrive, provided it's given good drainage. Plant breeders have put a lot of work into creating bright new colors.

    I suspect Gaillardia, a somewhat weedy member of the aster family, might thrive.
    http://www.floridata.com/ref/V/verb_bon.cfm is also a slighty weedy tropical American perennial.
    Brugmansia?
    Gomphrena
    Eustoma (Lisianthus) from the southern prairie of the US might thrive
    Euphorbia--E. marginata is cultivated worldwide
    Hibiscuses?
     
  10. Chungii V

    Chungii V Active Member

    Messages:
    572
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Hervey Bay Australia zone 10/11
    Gardenia, some species will flower most of year (G. radicans is a great groundcover) if somewhat protected and well drained position. Euphorbia millii poysean hybrids - no smell but amazing year round colour. Jasminum nitidum tends to flower most year round (here) though it's definitely more a shrub.
    (Sorry Lorax, Lantana camara of all plants?, maybe L. montevidences for sake of sterile plants not throwing seed? Sorry, I am still pretty anti-weeds and if the climate is as described, potential for escape of L. camara is pretty high)
     

Share This Page