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Sunday, May 27, 2012

Purple Knight and a snake!

I am filling in my front garden with this beautiful perennial plant. I think I've shown it before on this blog, but now I am rooting cuttings in water and sticking them in, to really fill in the whole area. Here is a picture from the top. The immature leaves are green, turning a dark purple as they get larger. The magic is in the underside of the leaves...

Sorry this pic is so blurry, but you can see how gorgeous the underside of the leaves is! More of a dark fushia shade...kinda glossy.....

I can hardly wait to see the area all full and lush!

Here is what EHow.com has to say about it:
"Alternanthera dentata 'Purple Knight', a cultivar valued for its rich purple leaves, forms attractive spreading mounds of foliage up to 3 feet wide. Native to tropical and subtropical areas of the Americas, Alternanthera 'Purple Knight' performs best in warm climates and thrives in USDA hardiness zones 10 through 11. In cooler areas of the country, gardeners often grow the plant as an annual, or plant it in a container for overwintering indoors".

Today we took a little road trip to Monkey Jungle down in Miami, and as we were leaving the area, we came across what looked like an entrance to an old ranch...with this carved snake in the entryway. Isn't it cool???

So much for my big adventures around here. Am off 3 days from my new job...trying to have a little fun, hopefully have a little beach picnic with the grandkids tomorrow on Memorial Day. Hope you are all having nice weekends!
Love, Julie

12 comments:

Dandelion and Daisy said...

Beautiful plant! It would be a houseplant in Oregon but it will be an amazing groundcover for you.
It's always fun to see what grows in other area of the U.S.

Anonymous said...

Oh my Julie, I think that snake would startle me to death!
I was so sorry to see the concert for memorial day tonite on Public tv got cancelled for storms in DC. They went to so much work and only got part way thru it.
I love your purple plant but alas I don't see it making it here in Iowa.
Des Moines had a record high of 91* today and it has been a hot humid weekend so far. The horses have really been fighting the flies.
Have a good day with the family tomorrow!
Carla

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Yep, I am having a great weekend too. I hope you had your picnic. The carved snake is real looking in this picture. I like your purple plant. Lucky that all you have to do to propagate it is to take cuttings. You will have plenty in no time.

Judi said...

Hi Julie *hugs*
Happy Memorial Day...yayyyyy you have time off with your grandkiddies...I bet your weather is great and so is the beach.

That looks like a neat place to visit...minus that darn snake though!

The plant is very neat also. I love plants with character and colour like that. Good luck and may it grow really well for you.

have a good evening
Judi

Julie said...

Dear Carla...thanks for always stopping by my blog! I was born in Des Moines!!! I bet Purple Knight would make it in a container there...outside in summer and inside in winter....

Unknown said...

Hola

las plantas con colores rojizos me gustan mucho, resaltan la belleza de un jardín

besos

Teri said...

it is a beautiful plant Julie. I was wondering how your new job was going.
Awesome job on the snake...I thought it was real.

Diane AZ said...

Yes, the snake sure looks real! Incredible colors on the Purple Knight, great idea to root cuttings to make more. Have a nice weekend!

Mary said...

I thought it was a real snake! Wondering how your new job is going.. email me sometime.:)

Bobbie Lynn said...

Thank you Julie. Hope you have a great weekend too and all is well with you new job too. My girl is home for the next two months and it is great having Her back home for a while.

Blessings to you and your family.

Serena Lewis said...

That plant would look lovely in the garden! What a wonderful carving of the snake...quite clever too.

I hope you had a lovely time with family for Memorial Day. xo

Lynn Cohen said...

I thought that snake was real!!!
Wow!!!