(90 days) Annual. Also called Farewell to Spring. Frank Morton, who’s growing a lot of flowers these days, calls this Godetia the most beautiful flower in the garden: “It took my breath away.” We agree that these large and long-lasting 3" “satin flowers” are vastly underrated. With abundant blooms in red, pink, salmon, lavender and white, and with a bright red patch in the heart of the four petals, they make a lovely addition to the cottage garden. Also great in hanging baskets and pots.
They’re productive, too, with up to 15 stems on each 30" plant, each producing 5–6 clusters of flowers. And Grace is the best godetia for cutting, with a tremendous vase life. We were curious how Frank could grow an open-pollinated flower that is listed everywhere as a hybrid. His theory is that the initial cross was between closely related species, C. a. subsp. amoena x C. a. subsp. whitneyi, with the resultant color cavalcade continuing to be called a hybrid, even though it remained stable from that point on. And we get to enjoy the result. ①