Wow! I do remember that. Especially how beautifully it goes with your house. Very nice.

Holy smokes! Very beautiful!

Edna

That is just beautiful! I love it!
gotta get me one!.........maybe 2......I love the size!
Wow!

Haziemoon

I love this one-hmm...where could I place that in my yard?

Can't wait to see it in bloom!

I'm in love!! That is a beautiful plant, I'd never heard of it before... I've got to buy one... or several...!

Aren't monsters supose to be ugly? That is to beautiful to be a monster :) Post pics when it is in full bloom please!

WOW! I do remember that plant. What is the botanical name? I wonder if it would grow here in TX.
Sort of reminds me of duranta, which grows to the size of the 05 picture and freezes back each year also.

I love your monster too! It looks lovely on its own, and with your lovely home and garden. The pics are great!

I'm not at all familiar with this plant, but I want one now, oink oink. I wonder how it would do in Seattle? We have wet cool winters and cool fairly dry summers. Does it need heat to bloom and be a lovely monster?

Thanks for sharing this!
Take care,
Grant

Oh Mary Lu ~ What a gorgeous monster! I also would love to know if it would do well here where it's hot and humid most of the year. What a beauty! It looks wonderful with your home colors.

FlowerLady

Thanks everyone! I too am really looking forward to it's bloom this season.

For more info, just do a search on LESPEDEZA THUNBERGII 'PINK FOUNTAIN'

There are several different Lespedeza Thunbergii available that I was able to find. Some seem to be more available than others. Didn't find Pink Fountain for sale on too many sites. But I didn't spend a lot of time looking. When I purchased these, I really didn't know anything about them, nor had I ever seen one. Just thought the description sounded unique and that it would add some fall color. Something I am still striving for, but getting more each year.

For those of you who might be seriously interested...?
I will post the link to Klehm's Song Sparrow Farm which is where I purchased the 2 bushs I have. Klehms states that it is hardy zones 5-8. Other places I saw it to zone 9. Hope this helps.

Another site I found is Centre Commons Perennials which stated the following about this bush:
"Cultivation - Growing well in full sun to light shade, Lespedeza ÂPink Fountains prefers infertile to average well-drained soil. It is very tolerant of heat, drought and humidity. Treat like Buddleia - when cut down to 15 cm in spring, it will quickly regrow each season. No serious insect or disease problems.

Here is a link that might be useful: Klehm's Song Sparrow Farm

Oh, forgot to mention. Where I live the temps range up to 101 (with a heat index of 115, just a few weeks ago)in the summer and -25 with wind chills much lower in the winter. As most places do in the mid-west we also experience a lot of humidity in the summer. None of the above have seemed to phase this bush. We do have a fairly sandy soil.
Marylu

Wow - very pretty - I have one of them and had to move it from one garden because it wanted to take it over. I planted it under some pine trees in the woods and it is growing OK but not near as many blooms. Yours is so beautiful and now I want to get it back out into full sun so I can get the blooms again. Not sure what cultivar mine is but it does self seed so look for little seedlings......

Lynne

Ooooooooh - that's beautiful.

Guess what I'll be checking for at the nursery?!?

So far I have not had any seedlings with mine. This will be the third year it has bloomed. Wonder if it might be a different cultivar as you said lynnencfan.

Homemaker....so get one! They really are beautiful when in bloom. Should do fine in your zone. I have mine planted on the east side of the house so it gets morning sun and afternoon shade. Seems to like it. LOL! From what I have read about it, it doesn't sound like they are too fussy.

Since posting again about this bush I have done more research on it. Sounds like there is another cultivar that is considered an invasive in some states. But from what I could find, this one is not.

I will definitely post pictures when it is in full bloom! Gosh...just had a thought, am I being an enabler? :-)
Marylu

marylu - I am thinking that I have the invasive one because I have gotten alot of seedlings and not near as many blooms. Mine came from a couple who specialized in native plants not cultivars so the blooms are not as prolific. I am going to be on the lookout for your cultivar......

Lynne

Homemaker, how did you do that? It is so pretty!

Marylu, that is a lovely bush. When does it bloom and for how long? It really is beautiful.

don't you love Khlem's, I love their catalog.

Maureen

That's beautiful,but i doubt it would grow here in S.Calif,if it needs cold winters.I love ot though.

Mary lou,can i send your picture to my sister in N.Y.,i know she'd love it also,and should be able to grow it.
TFS
Kathi

I'll try to answer some of your questions.

I really don't know if it needs the cold winter like some plants do or not. Just that here it will freeze back to the ground and regrow in spring. From the info I have found the zones are listed as 4-8 or 4-9. Zones 8 or 9 don't have that cold of winters, do they? As I've always lived in Wisconsin, I really don't know those things. :-)

Kathy, not a problem.

My bush usually starts blooming about now and blooms most of September. It reaches its peak about the third week of September (I think) I looked back at last years pictures to check the progression of bloom as I had not written it down anywhere. Right now there are just a few blooms on it but I can see where many more are coming.
Marylu

That's wonderful, Mary Lu. Everything just ties in so well.
And yes you are an enabler in the nicest possible way. I swear next year...(procrastinator here) when I'm retired, all ideas are coming off the back burner!! And you've given me alot.

georgeanne

I hope this will do all right from seed. I've far exceeded my gardening budget for the year and just couldn't face telling my husband I "need" another plant, so I bought a packet of seeds instead. I hope it someday gets even close to how beautiful your plant is.

uh oh, I think I'd better move mine. I had no idea it would get that big. I have mine planted in one of my rose beds, looks like it needs a large space just for itself. Mine has bloomed all summer, just planted in the spring, but I definitely haven't given it enough space.

betty

I looked back and found that I planted these 2 bushs in spring of 2004. The first picture was taken mid-July of 2004. The second picture was taken this spring on May 23, 2006.

This should help give you more idea of it's growth rate.
Marylu

July 20, 2004 - planted in spring of this year
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May 23, 2006 - this spring
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Mary-Lu, I have my local nursery scrambling to find out if I can special order one. They don't carry it as a general rule.

What a great enabler you are!! Thanks.

homemaker....let me know if you don't have any luck. If you are unable to find it, and you would like to try, next year I can take some soft wood cuttings to see if it could be propagated that way? Would probably be too late this year?

Seems to me that when I was reading about it/researching, that somewhere it said that it was possible to do this. I have never tried this method, but might be something... or I could try to save/find seed this fall. But as I mentioned before, so far I have not found seedlings with mine.

Marylu

Wow, add another plant to the list of gotta haves!

just checked and Dave's garden says it has been reported growing as far south as San Antone and thats skirting zone 9.

Also, forestfarm carries several varieties, including pink fountain:
http://www.forestfarm.com/search/search.asp?aPage=1&index=genus&field-keywords=Lespedeza

guess I know what I will be ordering for the fall!!!

I "clipped" this one into my "file." What an upper as things start to fade at the end of the summer!!

I had posted some pics on the perennials forum too, and someone over there wanted to know what the foliage looked like, so thought I would post it here too! :o)

Thoses little white shoots that you see in the picture will all be blooms. As I said earlier they are really sprouting out all over.
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Glad those of you that are looking for it have found some places that carry it. But, BEWARE it does get big, and remember that "dumb" me planted 2 of them.

Thought with our cold winters and shorter summers that it probably wouldn't get as big as advertised! Well lots of things don't (at least in other peoples gardens!) my daughter swears she does NOT want to know what is buried in our yard, as everything gets so BIG! ;-)

Moving this back up for those who want to see the pictures from 2004 that I posted earlier.

Okay, added to my back hill list. That is a must. I love it.

That is very, very beautiful.

I've got some little lespedezas I started from seed after drooling over these gorgeous pictures. I sure hope they bloom even this first year, I'm so impatient! Of course mine are only about 8 inches tall, so it might be overly optimistic to hope for blooms yet.