Lamb's Tail Joey™

New to U.S. gardens, this Australian native is nothing short of an answer to our prayers for a lovely, long-lasting annual that stands up to today's hotter, drier summers! Pink Mulla Mulla begins blooming when the days grow long (late spring in most climates) and doesn't quit until the nip of autumn, its silvery pinkish-lavender bloomspikes each lasting 3 months or more in garden or vase. If there's an easier plant for loose, dry soil in a sunny setting, we have never found it!

Even the foliage is charming on this compact little plant, grayish-green and standing straight up like spoons. It is leathery and tough, so it keeps its good looks even when water is scarce and hot sunshine plentiful. And these leaves, 3 to 5 inches long, make the perfect backdrop for the blooms, which arise in fat cones up to 5 inches high and packed with slender, gleaming petals. Pick all you like for indoor arrangements (fresh and dried); they will continue to set flowers all summer long!

Pink Mulla Mulla seems quite indifferent to the pests of its adopted country, and is superbly tolerant of heat and drought. In the garden it reaches 12 to 15 inches high and 10 to 12 inches long, and it may be grown easily in containers, but be careful not to allow it to get pot-bound, or it will stay much smaller than its full size. The most important care requirement is to keep the soil on the dry side and always well drained; too much moisture is lethal to this sun lover!

In the garden, Pink Mulla Mulla looks terrific alongside Pentas and Verbena. Actually a tender perennial rather than an annual, it will come back for years of enjoyment in zones 9 and 10, and is easy for the rest of us to begin again each spring. If you try only one new flower in the garden this season, please make it Pink Mulla Mulla. Let's welcome it into our hot, thirsty summer gardens and make it feel right at home! Pkt is 10 seeds.