By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

Ptilotus 'Joey' is getting all the press, but Ptilotus 'Platinum Wallaby', shown opposite, seems to be the better plant in every respect.  And especially so for any area of the West that has alkaline soil.

I saw 'Platinum Wallaby' at Proven Winners' trade show in Bonsall, California in late March and totally fell in love with those feathery lavender-gray flowers.  I also liked hearing the plant would be nearly ever-blooming in my Southern California climate and that it was very drought-tolerant.  I could think of a hundred different things I'd like to see it combined with without even working up a sweat.

Then I came home and starting reading about Ptilotus 'Joey' on other garden blogs.  And found out both plants are the same species, P.  exaltatus, which is more than a little confusing.  Especially after  I went to a nursery and got a first-hand look at 'Joey'.  It had similar flowers for sure but somehow lacked the overall excitment of 'Platinum Wallaby'.

I have since found out why the two varieties are different, but, realizing not all of you are going to want all the "horty" details, I'll just summarize how 'Platinum Wallaby' is better first, and you can read the rest if you want.

•  'Platinum Wallaby'  is a perennial; 'Joey' is an annual.

•  'Platinum Wallaby' has longer "feathers" than 'Joey' and they last longer.

•  'Platinum Wallaby' likes alkaline soil; 'Joey' likes acidic soil.

• 'Platinum Wallaby' foliage holds up better throughout the course of the season, too.  Maybe it's just the plants I happened to see, but I thought 'Joey' already looked bleached out at the nursery.  Maybe it doesn't like our salty water either.

'Platinum Wallaby' will be harder to find, at least for awhile, but considering its advantages I think it's worth searching out or asking for.

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Okay, now here's the "horty" stuff.  Ptilotus is a complicated genus.  Per the breeder of 'Platinum Wallaby'  there are 101 species of Ptilotus.  And the species P. exaltatus has five subgroups or "taxanomic varieties".  And 'Joey' and 'Platinum Wallaby' are in different ones; the former is mostly annual; the latter perennial.  But even better the P. exaltatus var. villosus group 'Platinum Wallaby' belongs to is the only Ptilotus that occurs naturally in alkaline soil.  In fact, says the breeder, it is found in calcarious soils--caliche, in other words.  So it should be able to handle anything the West can dish out.

'Joey' is a seed grown plant, so there will be natural variation in what you find in nurseries.  'Platinum Wallaby', on the other hand, was selected from seedlings for superior performance and is grown from tissue culture.  So nursery material will be very consistent.

Also, if you're wondering how to pronounce Ptilotus, just ignore the P.  It's silent.  As in Ptolemy.