Riverbanks creates a kaleidoscope
Stopping to smell the flowers
Arlene Marturano

The most spectacular display of fall color is as close as Riverbanks Botanical Garden. The garden shows visitors ways to use foliage, flowers, and fruit for seasonal color.

On my recent visit, the color purple stood out in regal splendor. I was greeted by a purplish- pink haze from the silky panicles of sweet grass, Muhlenb ergia capil- laris. The south- east native flowers grown from late summer into fall. Once established in full sun, the ornamental grass is an excellent ground cover in any type of soil or makes a superior specimen in a natural garden. Weaving sweet grass baskets is a tradition here.

A monarch butterfly was as captivated as I was with Dahlia Edinburgh, a rich maroon faced flower tipped in white. The showy flowers make excellent cut flowers or long blooming outdoor spas for pollinators.

The trailing habit of the dark purple sweet potato vine, Ipomoea batatas, cascading down a pyramid support resembles a waterfall of wine. The sun lover is used as a groundcover in window boxes, hanging baskets, and as a screen. Sweet potato vines are chameleons that highlight and boost the colors of surrounding plants like coleus and caladium.

Coleus Dark Star is the darkest purple of all coleus varieties. In full sun, the leaves are a purple- black; in shade leaves turn purple- green. The plant grows well in containers or in the ground but does not like wet feet. Pinch off flower heads to keep the plant from dying back.

Salvias are popular because of their long bloom time and stalwart per- formance in drought and heat. Two salvias at their peak now are velvet sage and Indigo Spires. The four- to- five- foot tall perennial Salvia Indigo Spires has dark blue- violet flowers with purple calyxes. It blooms unabated from late summer until frost.

The Mexican native Salvia leucantha or velvet sage grows three- to- four- foot tall with magenta and white velvety flower spikes with fuzzy magenta calyxes. Both salvias are butterfly and hummingbird magnets. Salvias are easy to propagate from cuttings.

Tradescantia pallida or purple heart is a long- jointed rambling royal purple groundcover with succulent stems, pointed leaves, and three petaled, pink flowers at the stem tips. This perfect xeriscape plant goes for long periods without water and is showing up as a lower bedding plant on municipal and highway plantings throughout the southeast.

It makes an excellent container plant with asparagus fern. Its close cousins are green and purple wandering Jews and spiderworts. The plant roots easily when stem nodes are placed in water, sand, or soil.

Bright- eyed vincas wink at gard eners. Catharant hus rosens Pacifica Bur- gundy Halo is the first bur- gundy vinca with a white eye. The twe lve- foot high bushy plant has proven to be heat and drought tolerant flowering continuously until frost without pinching. This tough annual won the 2007 All America Selections award for bedding plants.

The hyacinth bean vine, Dolichos lablab, features amethyst and violet flowers and royal purple patent leather textured 3- 4" pods. The fast growing annual vine will cover a fence, trellis, or teepee lickety- split so have a support in a sunny place before planting seeds.

Purple is only one of a kaleidoscope of fall colors featured at Riverbanks Botanical Garden. Get out and view the botanical garden. Then cast its beautiful form in yours.

Arlene Marturano is a master gardener, writer,

and educator. As an advocate of gardening as a

tool for learning, she helped develop the

Carolina Children's Garden at the Sandhill

Research and Education Center. She is an education

consultant with T.E.A.C.H.

marturano@yahoo.com