From battlefields to botany

Ferdinand Jacob Lindheimer, a teacher in Frankfurt, Germany, became a political refugee after a failed insurrection there in 1833. He could have left for Canada and settled here in Waterloo Region, but instead he chose a new life in the U.S. After being diverted to Mexico for a year, he continued his journey only to be shipwrecked off the coast of Alabama at the time of the Texas revolution — remember the Alamo. He finally reached Texas in 1836, arriving, at the actual battlefield, on the day of the final battle of the revolution.

Turbulent times indeed for Ferdinand Jacob Lindheimer. No wonder he decided to settle for a quiet life as a botanist in the German colony of New Braunfels, where he became director of the botanical garden. Known as the Father of Texas Botany, his name has been used to designate more than 40 species of plants. Plants have no names, only the ones we give them, and often as not they’re saddled with an unpronounceable botanical name, regardless of any common name the plant may have been known by.

I’ve had one of Lindheimer’s plant discoveries growing happily beside my driveway for close to 20 years. It’s called Gaura. As for the botanical name, it was Gaura lindheimeri, but latter-day botanists have recently reclassified it as Oenothera lindheimeri. It’s still marketed under the old name, so for now we’ll continue to call it gaura.

As for that name, gaura is derived from Greek and means superb, and superb this plant is. The Royal Horticultural Society went so far as to give it the Award of Garden Merit, and they don’t give that to any old plant. It’s an airy one, continuously producing small, pink or white flowers on long waving stems from June though fall, hence the other common name, whirling butterflies. The foliage is low to the ground, emerging purple in spring before turning green, then back to purple in fall.

The plant is a perennial, at least in Texas. It is rated as hardy to zone five, yet by all reports it isn’t always reliable around here. In fact, it’s most often sold as an annual, which is why some are surprised when I tell them mine returns every year. I know others have been as lucky as I have, at least with the clump beside my driveway. Over the years I’ve tried new plants in different places around the garden, but without any luck. I’ve even tried transplanting parts of my original to no avail.

I suspect the reason for this is because I bury my original clump under a snowbank when I shovel the driveway in winter. The snow protects it, acting as a mulch, ensuring its survival. The only other possibility I’ve considered is my plant was one of the early varieties, closely related to the original. Numerous hybrids have been produced, perhaps without the hardiness of earlier ones. I’d suggest then, if you’ve planted gaura this year for the first time thinking it’s a perennial, that you protect your plant in late fall with leaves or straw, or you could keep shovelling snow over it until May.

When established, gaura is drought resistant and heat tolerant, non-invasive, not bothered by insects or eaten by rabbits, and needs no care other than the trimming of old stems in spring. If it doesn’t take root in your garden, continue to treat it as an annual. It looks especially fine when used to give height in a planter.

Ferdinand Jacob Lindheimer sure knew how to pick a good plant. See it at flic.kr/s/aHskykXv6X.

To chat with local gardeners, share tips, pics, discuss Gaura, see Grand Gardeners on Facebook.