'Passalong Plants:' Old-Fashioned Bloomers

Want to bring a little bit of your grandmother's garden to your garden? Consider planting some old-fashioned bloomers. There are traditional favorites that bloom without fuss.

Such old-fashioned flowers are also known as "passalong plants" because they're often vintage floral favorites that have been "passed along" from garden to garden by savvy home gardeners. A stroll through an elderly acquaintance's garden is like a stroll through the past. It seems that many of her flowers, trees and roses are "passalong plants," having gotten their start from seeds or rooted cuttings. It's sort of a tradtion among old-time gardeners, who feel honor-bound to share plants that someone else once shared with them.

Plants can be passed along through divisions, seeds or cuttings. It's that bit of history that makes old-fashioned flowers so irresistible. When flowers open, you can be taken back to that sunny morning in the garden when you were a child. Here's a few favorite antique flowers:

Cleome. Also known as spider flower, these are stately bloomers that offer spike-like flowers that are often used in cut-flower arrangements. The flowers also are a favorite to bees and butterflies. The 3-4-foot-high plants thrive in full sun and summer heat. They are perfect for back of a border or along fences and walls. Please note that drought-tolerant cleome reseeds in the garden to the point of being invasive. They make perfect passalong plants since you can save the seeds or volunteer seedlings to give to friends.

Johnny Jump-Up viola. Here's another rather invasive plant, coming up as volunteers easily. But who can't resist the tiny tri-color flowers of purple, white and yellow? These dainty flowers will bloom all fall, winter and spring, but tend to fizzle out inr eally hot weather. Violas are in the same family as pansies, but offer smaller plants and flowers.

Flowering tobacco (nicotiana sylvestris). A towering vision of white, pink or red in the summer garden. Most plants grow 4-5 feet, although there are new dwarf versions that are only 10-12 inches. Plants will bloom from early summer until frost. Plants do best in well-drained soil in full sun to partial shade.

Four o'clock (Mirabilis jalapa). This is a quick-growing, late-day bloomer with shimmeru, trumpet-shaped flowers. Flower color range is yellow, white, orange, pink and red. Plants are around 3 feet high and well branched. True to its name, flowers open after 4 p.m. Plants reseed easily in the garden.

These and other old-fashioned bloomers thrive with little care, come back yearly and will brighten any garden. If you can't find seeds or starts of these flowers, try scouting friend's gardens. Chances are, your gardener friend will be more than willing to share the plant, and pass along a story that goes with it.

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