Okay, it’s Kentucky Derby Saturday so our plant picks obviously have to do with the Run for the Roses, as well as an honorable mention for World Naked Gardening Day.
It’s the running of the 150th Kentucky Derby, one of my favorite sporting events to watch, so this week we’ll have to pick 3 plants…yes, having something to do with the Derby. First pick: Kentucky Colonel Spearmint – Over 4,000 pounds of the Colonel will be used to make mint juleps this weekend. And of all the mints, Kentucky Colonel has the best foliage and as far as I’m concerned, the best flavor. 18-24 inches tall, white flowers and the pollinators love them, deer, and rabbit resistant, and yes, very aggressive. Grow the Colonel in a container. Second pick: Easy Does It Rose – This floribunda rose is like a fruit salad for the landscape; fragrant clusters of swirling shades of mango-orange, peach-pink and honey-apricot form blooms that are scalloped, ruffled, and classically spiraled, rounded, bushy plants with super glossy green leaves, proven disease resistance, vigor, and flower power. One of my favorite picks. Third Pick: Another rose I have become quite impressed with – Petite Knock Out Rose. Here is a small rose bush, lovely dark green glossy leaves, and an outstanding production of smaller red roses. All the great attributes of the Knock Out Series roses, but in a smaller package.
And my 2024 Kentucky Derby picks: Fierceness to win (Johnny Velazquez), Dornoch to place, Catalytic to show, and my long shot must be Grand Mo the First. Forever Young could be there as well.
Honorable Mention Pick: Lycoris sq. ‘Naked Ladies’ – now showing wonderful strapping green foliage, to be followed up in late August with those stunning pink tubular flowers on ‘naked stems’, in honor of World Naked Gardening Day!