Delicious heliotropes

[Verdun]

Approaching my front door earlier I was hit with the most amazing scent of cherry pie !
I have a few perennial heliotropes there......several scattered around the garden too....and the scent is intoxicating. They have been flowering and producing this perfume all summer.
Dont know why more people dont grow this plant......the annual Marine is commonly seen but the perennial, Chatsworth for example, is quite a rarity it seems yet is far superior. Nice lilac/purple flowers on a big bushy plant so looks good too.
Plant cherry pie next year folks......you will want to so so every year then

 

[Larisa]

Oh, I have not grown it for a long time. For me, this is an annual plant, but I can save cuttings. Now I also want to sow in January.

 

[Robert Cummings]

Approaching my front door earlier I was hit with the most amazing scent of cherry pie !
I have a few perennial heliotropes there......several scattered around the garden too....and the scent is intoxicating. They have been flowering and producing this perfume all summer.
Dont know why more people dont grow this plant......the annual Marine is commonly seen but the perennial, Chatsworth for example, is quite a rarity it seems yet is far superior. Nice lilac/purple flowers on a big bushy plant so looks good too.
Plant cherry pie next year folks......you will want to so so every year then

I thought they had gone out of fashion many years ago but in fact a client got hold of some earlier in the season and we too have been enjoying the heavenly scent. We really don't see them much these days here in Somerset, bit like Bellis daisies, just not as popular as they use to be think we should start a revival!!

 

[Verdun]

I think a few still grow them Robert but, yes, a,revival sounds great.
I have persuaded so many visitors here to grow them.....have numerous cuttings on the go right now (wot have I started?). They ask where the scent is coming from so........

 

[Robert Cummings]

Yes do keep up the good work, they are resilient little plants and deserve all the attention.

 

[Robert Cummings]

I too will fly the flag for Heliotrope and recommend to some of my clients. But need to buy some cuttings or plugs ..Any ideas on that..

 

[Verdun]

Have to check this out but I had plants from heliotrope nursery early this year. It was supposed to be closing down but I will find out Robert

 

[Robert Cummings]

Many thanks,

 

[MaryMary]

I have a few perennial heliotropes there......several scattered around the garden too....and the scent is intoxicating.

Would they be perennial in my zone? And if so...

Pictures, with names of your varieties, please?? Planting tips?
Oh, who am I trying to kid? Even if they would not survive my winter, I'd still like to see pictures!!

 

[Verdun]

Ok Mary, will try and post some pics.
Shame they wont be of smelly vision quality
Chatsworth, White Queen and White Lady and another I will need to double check on are all excellent.

 

[Beverly]

@Verdun...thanks for the idea. I just ordered seeds. Are they perennial where you are in UK? I will be able to grow them as perennial here and looking forward to giving it a try.

@MaryMary you can grow them. Do what @Larisa does. Take cuttings and keep them inside for next year.

I have been wondering why hydrangeas are everywhere...absolutely drowning in hydrangeas. I guess this is how those things get started. I think i need a list of flowers out of favor. Still i am looking forward to trying heliotrope and they won't be everywhere where i live, only where i forum

 

[MaryMary]

Ok Mary, will try and post some pics.

Thank you, Verdun! Google tells me they are not perennial here.

@MaryMary you can grow them. Do what @Larisa does. Take cuttings and keep them inside for next year.

Oh, Beverly, but I can't!!
In the winter, the house is a veritable jungle of houseplants. There's a snake plant, spider plant, various cacti, 4 pothos, a jade, a croton, 2 dracaenas, and the orphaned orchid. And at least 10-15 more things I don't even have names for.

This summer, I acquired the Venus flytrap, a hypoestes, and two coleus. I have to bring them all inside for the winter.


Helpful hint: If your plants are so tightly packed it makes them hard to water, get an automotive funnel - the ones with the long narrow stem. You have to water more slowly, but you won't spill water on the pretty wooden table.

 

[Verdun]

MaryMary, you can keep a single "stock" plant and keep it inside....will perfume the house over winter....then take cuttings in spring. Or cut your stock plant hard back before late autumn and keep it dryish until spring. Use new shoots then for cuttings.
Cuttings, anyway, would not take much space. 7 to 9 cuttings in a single 9cm pot will root and "keep" until spring...???

 

[Robert Cummings]

Heliotropium Arborescens is the most common Heliotrope as I remember you can even take cuttings from them about now..

 

[MaryMary]

keep it inside....will perfume the house over winter....

Oh!! Am I understanding correctly - it is the plant itself ... that smells of cherry pie?! I've been assuming it was the flower!

7 to 9 cuttings in a single 9cm pot will root and "keep" until spring...???

7-9 cuttings in a 3.5" pot. Hmm, now that sounds feasible. And no one eats at the kitchen table, it's only there because a kitchen needs a table . .... Yes, this can work!

Ok!! I will check into seeds for next spring!!