“Broken Resolution”, a copyrighted post, was written for my WordPress blog called Always Growing by Jan in Covington, Louisiana
Well, it has happened again. I said I wasn’t going to buy any more plants. I told my daughter that I just didn’t feel like planting one more thing. From now on, all I was going to do is water plants and weed. But, then today, at the first nursery where I stopped, I found a plant I just had to have.
It is another clerodendrum. I don’t know what it is, but I am starting to have an awful lot of plants from this family. Well, today I bought Clerodendrum frangrans pleniflorum. It doesn’t seem to have a common name, though the Southern Living Garden Book says it is sometimes referred to as Cashmere Bouquet (that name usually is applied to C. bungei). The flowers do smell like C. bungei and the leaves are very similar in shape, size and color, too. But, whereas C. bungei’s leaves when crushed are malodorous, this new one’s leaves are not.
This shrub was about three feet high and almost as wide. It looks like there are two plants in the three gallon pot. This is supposed to spread as most of the clerodendrums do, but I have not had a problem with that. Any of the C. Bungei or C. splendes that show up in an unwanted area, I just remove and give away or throw away. The flowers look like small white roses and are in clusters.
One of the problems of impulse purchases is finding a place to put the new unplanned for plant. I have a place in mind because I have been taking out some plants that just don’t fit in my garden anymore. They were things I started off with just to fill in areas or to fill in until the perennials grew big enough. Plants like four o’clocks and ruellea, are coming out. Some plants are being moved to less sunny locations since we have lost trees, and there is so much less shade for them now. Of, course, all this makes space available for new things. So, even though it will be very hot tomorrow, it looks like I will be planting this new purchase in the garden.
Always Growing 
Carol, May Dreams Gardens said,
June 22, 2008 at 5:53 am
I’m doing the same thing right now, buying new plants when I should be just tending to what I have. I can see why you bought this plant. Those flowers do indeed look like little roses.
Jan said,
June 22, 2008 at 7:03 am
Come on, Carol, you must have a name for this problem we have. You are so clever in coming up with cute names for our gardening quirks.
Wicked Gardener said,
June 22, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Cool plant – I’ve never heard of it before.
Jan said,
June 22, 2008 at 4:57 pm
I had heard of a clerodendrum that was called “cashmere bouquet” (but was not the c. bungei one) but had never seen one. As soon as I saw this plant and smelled the flowers, I knew it had to be that clerodendrum. I hope it does well in the garden because it is really very pretty.