Chocolate!
by Nell Prince

ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED: 1997 Summer

(Co-written by Rommy Lopat)

Chocolate! Chocolate in the garden?! What a delicious idea! Here's a list of plant which boast chocolate names or a chocolate scent (allegedly). Are there others? Write to TWG and let us know!

Delphineum Bitter Chocolate Mixture: Seeds of Distinction says that "this is a completely new generation of Delphiniums. A complete spectrum of bicolors and picotees, but all of their petals are splashed with bitter chocolate!

Contact SOD at P. O. Box 86, Station A, Toronto, ON, Canada M9C 4V2. (416) 255-3060, FAX 888-327-9193, e-mail sod@interlog.com. Web page: http://www.interlog.com/~sod/.

Rockery Sweet Peas, in chocolate (bicolor): Seeds of Distinction (above) introduced these 4-6" tall sweet peas with hundreds of powerfully-scented flowers. The mix has four bicolors: chocolate, carmine, pink, and red. So think of this mix as strawberries with chocolate sauce!

Geranium phaeum ÔChocolate Chip': Geranium phaeum is an 18" shade plant with nickel-size dark-maroon flowers. ÔChocolate Chip' is particularly dark. Source: Robin Parer, Geraniacea, 122 Hillcrest Ave., Kentfield, CA 94904. Catalog, $4.

Chocolate Foxglove (Digitalis parviflora): This is a long-lived, most unusual foxglove. It has reddish, chocolate-brown flowers and shiny, straplike foliage.

Source: Perennial Pleasures Nursery, PO Box 147, 2 Brickhouse Road, E. Hard-wick, VT 05836. (802) 472-5104. Catalog=$3. Very good historic info. ÔChocolate Soldier' Columbine (Aquilegia viridiflora ÔChocolate Soldier'): Fragrant, chocolate-purple flowers, 12-14" tall. Here's what the Thompson & Morgan catalog says: "Yellow/green eagle claws clasp hold of the deep purple/chocolate brown bonnet, perfectly contrasted by bright yellow/green anthers." Whatever.

Sources: Meadow View Farms, 3360 North Pacific Hwy., Medford, OR 97501. (541) 772-2169 or toll-free 888-463-9135. Seed of A. viridiflora is available from Thompson & Morgan (below) and Seeds of Distinction.

Chocolate Flower (Berlandiera lyrata): The Thompson & Morgan catalog describes this plant as having the "singularly aromatic and magnificent fragrance of chocolate--will fill a yard with its scent." It needs winter protection, but grows 18" tall and has chrome-yellow, bronze-centered 2" flowers with silvery foliage and rosette-like seed heads that can be dried. Source: Seed is available from Thompson & Morgan. P.O. Box 1308, Jackson, NJ 08527 (800) 274-7333.

Bidens ferulaefolia ÔGolden Goddess': This is an attractive plant with hundreds of bright yellow, 1" daisy-like blooms. It forms a tall, spreading bush, the top of which may flop after which branches grow up to form a airy mound. The flowers are chocolate scented, and the foliage is fern-like. This annual will grow 18"-24" tall, and does well in a hanging basket as well as in the garden.

Source: Seed and plants are available from Flower Scent Gardens, 14820 Moine Road, Doylestown, OH 44230. Catalog=$2 refundable. (330) 658-5946.

Chocolate Lily (Fritillaria camschatcensis) : This strange somber flower roves from Japan to Siberia to Alaska to Washington and is known in old European gardens as Black Seranna. Its dark maroon-purple to black bells, 1-8 to a stem, dangle from 9-18" stems. Leaves are carried on whorls on the strong stalks. Prefers shade, moist soil, and no bright sunlight, all according to the catalog of McClure & Zimmerman, 108 W. Winnebago, PO Box 368, Friesland, WI 53935. (414) 326-4220.

Five-leaf Akebia (Akebia quinata): has been called "chocolate vine" because of its purplish-brown flowers, but we can't find a catalog that says it exactly that way anymore. Its flowers are fragrant, but not chocolate-scented. Source: Commonly available.

Chocolate Mint (Mentha x piperita): This perennial mint is a mint: it becomes invasive but smells great while it conquers. Source: Richters, Goodwood, Ontario Canada L0C 1A0. (905) 640-6677, Fax (905) 640-6641; e-mail: orderdesk@richters.com.

Chocolate Cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus): Wayside's catalog [800) 845-1124] says that "these velvety flowers of rich burgundy have a delicate chocolate scent." This blooms in late summer-fall and its 18" stems are great for cutting. Beware: In Zone 5, you must overwinter them in a frost-free spot. Great with Platycodon ÔScentimental Blue', Helictotrichon, or Veronicas. Another source is Logee's Greenhouse: (800) 774-8038.

Daylily ÔChocolate Dude'; ÔChocolate Ripples'; ÔChocolate Splash'; and ÔChocolate Dreams'. Get these from Pine Cliff Daylily Gardens, Floyd's Knobs, IN (812) 923-8113.

Scented Geraniums (Pelargonium quercifolia): Chocolate, Chocolate-Peppermint, & Cocoa Mint: Description unnecessary: simple scratch and sniff. Source: Good nurseries and greenhouses, such as Shady Hill in Batavia.

Chocolate Leaf Snakeroot (Eupatorium rugosum ÔChocolate') is sold by Milaeger's in Racine, WI [(800) 669-9956]. But thePlant Delights Ô catalog [(919) 772-4794] has a better description: "...this is a new border-sized perennial from Dr. Dick Lighty of the Mt. Cuba Center. This fabulous selection of our native snakeroot has green leaves that emerge with a wonderful chocolate overlay that holds during most of the summer. In very late summer, early fall, the 5' purple stems are topped with nice broccoli-sized heads of small white flowers...destined for greatness in Europe as happens to all of our wonderful native plants!" Also great for cutting.

Heuchera ÔChocolate Veil' and Heuchera ÔChocolate Ruffles'. ÔRuffles' has 9" wide leaves: chocolate on top, burgundy on the bottom with thousands of small cream colored flowers on purple spikes. ÔVeil' has 9" wide chocolate-black leaves with purple highlights. It looks great next to solid-color Hosta. Source: Should be in your local nursery. By catalog: Shady Oaks Nursery, 112 - 10th Avenue, Waseca, MN 56093-3122, (800) 504-8006

And for mulch? Don't forget the Cocoa Beans!

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