Impatiens

Fine, go ahead, eat the daisies, but please don't eat the daffodils. Don't eat the oleander either. Don't eat the azalea flowers or the sweet pea blossoms, the morning glory or the iris. Instead, slip into your yard this morning and pick some daylilies while they're still cool and crisp, then eat them. While you're at it, snip some snaps, clip some pinks, pluck a carnation or two and eat those as well. Those flamboyant fuchsia blooms? Chow down.

The Southland gardener's favorite bedding plants: 1. Impatiens 2. Pansy 3. Petunia 4. Marigold 5. Bedding begonia Source: Grower survey

QUESTION: I have a small herb garden in pots on my patio and although most have done nicely, I'm wondering why my cilantro plant died. The whole area gets lots of sun, and I water it regularly. My basil and chives are thriving. Any suggestions would be appreciated--I love that herb. ANSWER: Cilantro is one of my favorites too, but a lot of people have trouble keeping cilantro from becoming coriander.

Cool, green and lush . . . or boring, bland and colorless--both are descriptions of shade gardens, depending on the gardener's point of view and skill. A shade garden can be merely an afterthought, with token impatiens tucked against a north wall or scattered around the base of a tree. Designed with care, however, a shade garden can be a fragrant, colorful respite from the burning sun.

Things to do this week: * Plant summer color. Now that spring's bedding plants are finished, you can replace them with summer's--ageratum, celosia, bedding dahlia, gloriosa daisy, marigold, petunia, portulaca, verbena, zinnia and the like. Several new developments worth looking for: the "Tropical Fruit" colors in the Sundial strain of portulacas, the wild-looking plume celosias and the many new kinds and colors of verbena.

A multicolor lantana, a red geranium and a pink impatiens are 1994 FloraStar winners for new potted-plant introductions. "Our testing shows they should perform well in climates across the country," says Mike Novovesky, FloraStar's executive director. Among those participating in the selection process were the University of Georgia, University of Florida, Michigan State, Penn State and Washington State. The lantana--Patriot Rainbow--is from American Daylily and Perennials, Grain Valley, Mo.

It's easy to overlook Liriope muscari, to dismiss it as not quite colorful or dramatic enough. But one of the most effective shade landscapes I've ever seen was a simple stone path around the north side of a house, the path bordered with more than a dozen liriopes in full purple bloom. They were gorgeous--exotic and practical. Liriope is a shade-loving, blooming alternative to the ubiquitous impatiens.