Overview:
By Jennifer Gramlich
Each week, Signal Akron will help you in your gardening adventures with an excerpt from "The Root of It," a monthly newsletter from the Summit County Master Gardeners, Ohio State University Extension.
Do you want something a little unusual – dare I say “exotic” – to spice up your garden in the hot August sun? Jewels of Opar (Talinum paniculatum) is just that, treasured for its easy care and unique ornamental qualities.
The name conjures up locales first imagined by Edger Rice Burroughs (of Tarzan fame) when he wrote of the fictional lost city of Opar in his novels. Both the delicate flowers and the ruby-red seed pods must have inspired the naming of this jewel of a plant.
Also known as “fame flower,” Jewels of Opar is a great plant for fresh or dried bouquets and tolerates hot, dry sites. This low-growing ground cover explodes with tiny airy pink flowers in August and September, just as other annuals (and perennials) lose their oomph in the heat of summer. The delicate flowers form a cloud of color as they dance above the leaves.
A relative of portulaca, botanists debate Talinum paniculatum’s origins, claiming Africa, Thailand, North and South America, Cuba and the Caribbean. However, we do know that it thrives in all those places now.
Sometimes described as a succulent, it functions as a perennial in zones 9 and 10, sometimes in zone 8, and an annual in zones 7-4.
Not easy to find in your local garden center (most likely because it is not in bloom at planting time), Jewels of Opar is simple to grow from seed. Start it 6 weeks before the last frost or direct seed after the soil has warmed to 60 – 68°. Come late summer, you will be rewarded with petite pink flowers on two foot tall red stems that, once picked, last a week or more in a vase. The plant will continue to produce blooms for about six weeks, ensuring guilt-free harvests. The flowers eventually form ruby-colored bead-like seed pods that are also attractive in flower arrangements and wreaths.
There are three varieties of Talinum. Limon, the most common, has bright chartreuse foliage. Kingwood Gold (first discovered at exotic Kingwood Center Gardens in Mansfield, Ohio) is more gold-hued and self-sows freely. Difficult to find but exquisite is Variagatum, with variegated green and cream-colored leaves and gold seed pods. This variety typically does not self-sow.
Jewels of Opar leaves are edible and have a mild flavor similar to spinach. Like spinach, they can be eaten raw or cooked. Although high in calcium, vitamins and antioxidants, eat in moderation, as it can cause digestive side effects.
Want to find a spot for some of these charmers in your flowerbeds? Look for a sun or part-shade area with well-drained or sandy soil. It works well in borders, cottage or rock gardens, containers, and even fire remediation sites. It will self-sow, but removing the seed pods will curb their proliferation.
Enjoy these tough but winsome beauties now but don’t forget them in the spring. That’s when seeds are sown for an August reward of floral riches.
Dream on…