Fame Flower

Finally, my camera cooperated and I got a photo of this great flower. It's only about 1/2" across, but it's intense magenta color makes a big impact. It's fame flower (Talinum calcynium). I tucked these little succulents into the gaps in the rocks that border my pond and they are thriving. The tiny plants are now filling the spaces in the rocks and every afternoon I'm happy to see many of these pretty little flowers bobbing in the air around the edges of my pond.

We've had a pretty wet summer so it's still hard to say exactly how drought tolerant they are. Looks like there's a dry week coming up. I guess I'll find out. 

Update on pond planting

Here's a snapshot of some of the planting I've been doing. Might be hard to see here, but the gaps in the rocks are filled with gravel and dirt.

Tucked into those areas are sedum and Fame Flower (Talinum calycinum). I tried to photograph the intense magenta flowers with yellow-gold stamens that float on almost imperceptible stems in the evening above the Fame Flower. My camera must be intensity-avoidant because it just refused to focus. But you can see the little succulent leaves protruding from the rocks.

Planted at the bottom on the rocks in this photo are Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) and Missouri Evening Primrose (Oenothera macrocarpa). These are planted on the east side. There are more planted along the south side of the pond.

Where the pond intersects the waterfall (not shown in the photo), I've planted Purple Poppy Mallow (Callirhoe involucrata ) and Bush's Poppy Mallow (Callirhoe bushii). The purple poppy mallow will trail. So I've planted one of them in a large crevice in the rocks around the pond. It should look pretty trailing over the side.

If all survive, it will be beautiful. I'll have to keep a close eye on things as they become established. If I haven't secured the soil in those rocks well enough, it's likely to wash out. It would be a shame to see those little fame flowers wither!