Big Easy Botany

Wandering through the French Quarter, a gardener frequently finds her eye drawn to the lush and colorful planters lining the wrought iron balconies of the ancient brick buildings. Yet those are not the vignettes that inspired and enchanted her then or now.  Rather it's the sight of moss-covered bricks, crumbling in age and festooned with tiny plants who have made the cracks and crevices of those bricks their home.





The gardener laughed out loud when she saw this Bidens alba.   Back in 2009 or 2010, she spotted it growing wild at a Katy garden center.  Thinking that such a dainty and pretty flower deserved a spot at Wit's End,   she pilfered a few seeds and scattered them on her corner of Katy.  She has since lamented that action ... B. alba seems to be even more prolific a self-seeder than the oft-mentioned Spiderwort!  Perhaps she'll try planting some on one of her walls nonetheless, just as an experiment.  She'll deadhead faithfully, of course, just as she has promised to do with the Spiderwort.*


Note from the Head Gardener: Oh, yeah, this is going to end well ...

Comments

HolleyGarden said…
I don't know this plant (it looks pretty), but I do know spiderwort - good luck! :)
Isn't it amazing how plants manage to grow in the most inhospitable places? Good luck with the seeding and wall plantings. Of course, those pretty plants damage the wall, so you might want to rethink planting them there.
Ginny said…
Impatiens in pots self-seeded in the cracks of our brick steps - they've been coming back every summer for three years. It is amazing what will grow in bricks!