Actually adding Twinspur flower to your
garden will not only provide color and interest, the plant is also great for
attracting useful pollinators to the area.
This plant called Twinspur (Diascia)
is also known as Barber’s Diascia, Twinspur plant is a sprawling annual plant that
adds beauty and color to beds, rock gardens, borders and containers. Twinspur flower
is appropriately named for a pair of spurs on the back of each bloom.
Actually these
spurs have an important function – they contain a substance that really attracts
beneficial bees. The bright green, heart-shaped leaves provide contrast to the
delicate, spiky blooms that come in various shades of mauve, pink, rose, coral
and white, each with a contrasting yellow throat. Twinspur plant is native to
South Africa, they can reach a heights of about six to eight inches with a
2-foot spread, which actually makes it a useful ground cover. Twinspur plant
tolerates light frost, they can’t survive intense summer heat. The plant is a
cousin to the common snapdragon. They are usually grown as an annual.
Steps on how to grow Twinspur Flower
This plant generally performs best in
full sunlight, although they benefits from afternoon shade in hot climates. Make
sure the soil is well-drained, moist and fertile. If you want to plant it cultivate
the soil and add a shovelful of compost or manure, and then plant the seeds
directly in the garden when the temperature is consistently above 65 F. or 18
C. You need to press the seeds into the soil, but do not cover them because the
germination requires exposure to sunlight. Make sure you keep the soil lightly
moist until the seeds sprout, usually in 2 to 3 weeks.
How to care for Twinspur Flower
Immediately the plant is established,
the plant needs regular water during dry periods, but do not water to the point
of sogginess. You can water deeply, and then withhold water until the soil once
again feels dry. Regular feeding of the plant with a standard garden fertilizer
supports blooming. Make sure you water the fertilizer in to prevent burning the
roots. You can trim spent flowers to produce more blooms and also cut the plant
back to about four inches when blooming stops in summer heat. The plant will
really surprise you with another flush of blooms when the weather cools in
autumn. This plant is relatively pest-tolerant, although try and keep an eye
out for slugs and snails.
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