Scaevola

TheGardenLady received this question from Raymond

I want to purchase a plant called seavola. Where can I get this plant?

The plant you are looking for is spelled Scaevola (Scaevola aemula seems to be the most typical one sold in the US ) with common names such as, Fan flower or Fairy fan flower. Perhaps because you have the spelling incorrect you may be having a problem finding out more about this plant.

Scaevola is a pretty little plant that grows no more than 10 or 12-18 inches tall and about 2 ft wide. The flowers can be white, pink, purple, blue and mauve. It blooms profusely the entire summer.

Because it comes from dry hot parts of S Australia, Scaevola is a perennial only in US temperature zones 10a and 11b and maybe temp zone 9.

In all other US temperature zones, Scaevola is treated as an annual, which means you will have to plant it each spring after the last frost in your area. Then in the fall, when the first frost of that season comes, it will die. Most people or garden stores seem to plant this flower in containers but you can plant it directly in your garden.

It is a showy flower that blooms constantly over the summer. It likes moderately fertile, sandy soil in full sun or dappled shade with adequate moisture. It loves hot dry summers like we have had this summer unless you live in the desert where it likes that dappled shade.

You can start the plant from seeds, though I mostly see the seeds sold abroad and not in the US, by rooting plant cuttings or you can buy the plant online or from some nurseries. Here are two foreign seed companies you might be able to order from (here and here).  ood luck.

If you want to buy the plant, Proven Winners, the company that starts many of the best plants that are sold in retail nurseries will tell you how to locate the closest retail nursery near you that sells the Scaevola plant they breed. Go online here to their website. I have been told by the Ball Plant Co. that they have Scaevola called the Bondi ™ series that is sold in retail nurseries. Ask local nurseries using the trademark Bondi to see if they sell it. I have also seen Scaevola plants on sale online from places like Amazon or Brecks.

More on directions on how to plant Scaevola can be found here.

(If readers of this GardenLady blog know where one can buy Scaevola seeds in the US, would you let readers know so we can buy the seeds?)