Gaura 'Monarch Pink'

Gaura 'Monarch Pink': Flickering Pink on Swaying Wands

'Monarch Pink' rules the sunny border the lazy way: a few pink blossoms at a time, waved around on long arching stems like a royal greeting from a parade float. THE BUTTERFLIES SALUTE. THE BEES BOW.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Gaura lindheimeri (now also classified as Oenothera lindheimeri)
• Common Name: Butterfly Flower, Wand Flower, Beeblossom
• Series: Monarch series, from Dümmen Orange
• Height: 45–60 cm (18–24 in)
• Spread: 45–60 cm (18–24 in)
• Flowers: Small, four-petalled pink flowers that open a few at a time along long, arching stems
• Bloom Time: Early summer to early fall (June to September)
• Foliage: Narrow green leaves on reddish stems

Where to Plant: Use it near the front or middle of a sunny border, in a gravel garden, or in a large container where the wands can spill and sway. It's tender for our winters, so in Toronto give it a sheltered, well-drained spot, and in Ottawa and Montreal treat it as a long-blooming patio plant.

Companion Plants: Give 'Monarch Pink' a sunny, dry bed where its airy wands float over yellow, orange and purple. Delosperma 'Jewel of Desert Topaz' carpets the front at 10 to 15 cm with yellow-orange flowers from May to September. Achillea 'Little Moonshine' adds lemon-yellow heads at 30 to 35 cm from June to September. Salvia Perpetual Purple™ brings deep purple spikes at 40 to 45 cm from June to September. Panicum Prairie Winds® 'Apache Rose' stands behind at 120 cm, upright and grey-green.

Plant Care: Plant it in full sun, in sandy or gritty, well-drained soil. Wet clay in winter is what kills gaura most often, so raise the bed or add grit if your soil is heavy. Skip the fertilizer. Rich soil just makes it floppy. Water it regularly through the first summer. After that, water only in long dry spells. Snip off finished wands in summer to keep it tidy and push out more flowers. Leave the stems standing over winter and cut them back in spring once new growth appears. Gaura grows a deep taproot, so it doesn't like being moved or divided.

History: The species grows wild in Texas, Louisiana and Mexico and is named for Ferdinand Lindheimer, a German-born botanist who collected plants in Texas in the 1800s. Botanists have since moved gaura into Oenothera, the evening primrose genus, and Dümmen Orange showed the Monarch series at the California Spring Trials in 2023.

Final Thoughts: Skip the watering can once it settles in. Royalty doesn't fetch its own drinks. LONG LIVE THE QUEEN OF THE HOT SPOT.