Here’s Pennlive garden writer George Weigel’s Plant Pick of the Week for this week:
* Common name: Dichondra Silver Falls
* Botanical name: Dichondra argentea Silver Falls
* What it is: An annual in cold weather climates that’s grown for its somewhat fuzzy pewter/silver pinky-sized leaves that grow on stems that can trail four feet. In its native American Southwest, dichondra is a perennial used as a ground-hugging groundcover.
* Size: On the ground, plants creep across the surface at about two inches but run four feet or more out. In a pot or basket, stems spill out and trail down four feet or more.
* Where to use: Best used as a trailer in a sunny hanging basket or sunny window box.
* Care: Wait until after frost to plant outside. In a pot, water every day or two when it doesn’t rain. Fertilize with a balanced, organic or long-acting fertilizer at planting, then fertilizer usually not needed. Snip anytime if any stems are growing too long. Yank in fall after frost kills the foliage.
* Great partners: Pair with upright pink, purple, white, or blue annuals, such as angelonia, blue salvia, white euphorbia, heliotrope, begonias, pentas, vinca, geraniums, petunias, or zinnias.
- See the archive of hundreds of past plant picks under George’s Plant Profiles
- George’s 170 most recommended plants for Pennsylvania gardens are profiled in his “Pennsylvania Getting Started Garden Guide” book