Check out Chocolateflowerfarm.com They specialize in flowers that are either chocolate color and/or have a chocolate fragrance. I think I am in love and I certainly know where some of my next new plants will come from.
Oh, oh, oh, I'm kind of glad that nursery is very far from here. My wallet drew a sigh of relief. Some of those plants in there are already in our garden, but my wishlist suddenly grew. I didn't know the Cimicifuga changed names to Actaea.
The Chocolate Cosmos is one I ordered from another nursery and it came yesterday. I think my fall plant ordering will be from there so I can start a Chocolate garden out near the covered patio. Sitting in the middle of a chocolate field would be a great way to relax from gardening. I noticed the Cimicifuga name had been changed there. On the Springhill website it was Cimicifuga racemosa 'Atropurpurea' when I first considered ordering one a few years ago, then last year they changed the name, then this year it is back to the original name.
How are they expecting us to keep up when they do that? I'm curious, how does the Cimicifuga racemosa 'Atropurpurea' do in Texas? When does it bloom? How tall is it? Ours is a very late bloomer, September or October, and it's very tall too.
I decided not to order one since they require consistently moist soil and with our hot/dry summers I can't maintain that for them. I really wish I could, I have the perfect shady spot on the north side of the house where I was planning to plant it.
Sounds like the smartest thing to do, toni. I've nearly stopped bringing home plants that require dry, sunny conditions and lots of lime.
What a fun idea for a specialty - after all, who doesn't like chocolate? ;-) I'll have to go check it out, thanks!
Glendann, that's why I am not ordering until Fall. I will have the front yard garden going by then, lots of the plants out back will be moving out front, creating more room in the backyard for chocolate plants.
Well Toni 'n Droopy...I have ordered a few 'chocolatebloom' plants this year and they should be arriving any day now. If these plants are the same as the ones you guys are discussing, I am not sure--in the catalogue they are called: "Chocoladebloem"-Cosmos atrosanguineus , and they are reported to bloom June thru August and grow to a height of 80 cm. ---oops . I just had a quick look before posting this and the plants that I call the "chocolate plant" is indeed something quite different than what you folks were duscussing. Oh well... :-? I hope that mine will be pretty anyway. I liked the shape and habitus of yours, though.
