Ptilotus exaltatus 'Joey'

Ptilotus 'Joey' at Froggy Bottom in Sept. 2013

     I am becoming more and more enamored of annuals, particularly those that will thrive with a minimal amount of water and care.  Last year I found this one, with the unpronounceable name of Ptilotus.  As one expert on the internet said, "Just call it Joey".  This is a plant native to the dry central areas of Australia, so, as you might imagine, it is quite drought tolerant.  I planted it in an area of my garden that gets full sun and is quite well drained, and, as you can see from the picture, it did quite well.  I actually bought 5 plants, so that floral display is not from just one.  It performed as pictured above for quite a long time in the garden.  In the Pacific Northwest it seems to go on until Sept. or October.
     Just today I found more plants of this at Bainbridge Gardens, so I bought 9 of them to plant in my new garden.  I do not know yet whether they are deer resistant, since they were planted in the fenced in portion at Froggy Bottom last year.  These plants I purchased were grown by Skagit Gardens.  An internet search reveals several seed sources for this, so the next step I am going to take is to order seed!  I have not detected any self sown seedlings of this at Froggy Bottom.
     By the way, San Marcos Growers indicates that there is a longer lived cultivar of this called 'Platinum Walllaby'.  A google search of that name reveals that Proven Winners carries it.  Usually Proven Winners plants are widely available, so I will be keeping my eye out for it.