It’s always interesting to see how differently my garden plants perform from year to year. Last year must’ve been a great year for obedient plants (Physostegia virginiana) because mine put on an impressive show.
I grow ‘Pink Manners’ because this cultivar and its cousin ‘Miss Manners’ were bred to behave better in the garden than other obedient plants which can get a little pushy and invasive. The flowers are snapdragon-like, and the plant gets its name because you can grab the individual flowers and twist them in a different direction and they’ll stay there. Yes, I do it. I can’t help myself—it’s fun!
If I had one complaint it would be that ‘Pink Manners’ doesn’t have a particularly long blooming season, but the plants really give it their all for the 3 or 4 weeks that they are in bloom.
One of my plants grows next to some rudbeckias and daisies. I like the different flower shapes together:
My other plant is snuggled next to some ‘Purple Rooster’ bee balm plants. It’s a very “cottage-gardeny” look:
‘Pink Manners’ grows 30-36 inches tall in full sun or partial-shade. The plants grow in an upright clump and bloom a little later in the summer–late July/early August—just as the perennial rudbeckias are starting to bloom. It’s also a bee magnet.