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Sunday, October 21, 2007

Mexican Heather



Mexican Heather
Cuphea hyssopifolia

Synonyms: False Heather

This plant never stopped blooming all year. Even with a few days of temps in the low thirties it never lost a single leaf. I am happy with it and will continue to grow it.


Mexican heather is a member of the Cuphea family of plants. Many areas of the country discuss Mexican heather as an annual on account of it is hardy just to Zone 9. It is a good-looking plant and has been made known to be resistive to deer (however, deer will eat everything if they are famished). The flower colors are purple, pink, or white, and the leaf is rigid and gracefully curving.

Plant the Mexican heather in ample sun to regions with lightly shade. The plant oftentimes flourishes in the hot and humid weather that can be tough for most other plants. You might want to set Mexican heather in somewhat shaded area in really warm conditions to keep the blooms and foliage from withering.

Plant in well-drained soil with a pH range of 5.5 and 6.5. Reasonable feed and vivid light will develop the most effective plant. Plant 1 plant per 4 inch pot with a 60 degree F night temperature and permit eight weeks to complete. Set four plants per 10 inch pot and permit eight to ten weeks to complete.

This plant is good if sowed straight into the ground following the last frost of the year, but also will make an first-class indoors plant. Anybody planting this flower indoors ought to be sure to place it in a sunny location to get the proper sun exposure required for appropriate growth. Whichever way, the plant has a tendency to bloom comparatively early and can endure high temperatures as well as a considerable magnitude of drought.

Mexican false heather, also known as Mexican heather, Hawaiian heather and elfin herb, is an evergreen flowering plant that grows up to twenty-four inches in height. It is deemed to be a "sub-shrub" on account of its packed together full-grown size. Mexican False Heather has leaf covered stems which gives off many blooms of purple, white or pink during the growing time of year.

These plants have a woody impression which leads astray a lot of people to think they are a semi-shrub or perennial. They are actually an annual, that should be planted again each spring. A couple did last outdoors last winter, but it was an funny winter, and not anything to anticipate each year. You can remove cuttings from plants in the autumn, or even turn up some to last during winter indoors, but it is often easier to purchase new plants every year.

Originating in Mexico and Guatemala the Cuphea hyssopifolia is a tiny, ball-shaped shrub in nature. Mexican Heather has twiglike branches and a flat or herring boney branching design. This shrub contains small trumpet-shaped blooms in a light purple to lavender color. Mexican Heather behaves alright in sun to partial shade and is cared for as a summer annual. Cuphea hyssopifolia favors a damp, well-drained soil, is heat tolerable and reasonably drought tolerant.

False Heather develops in bright light to partial shade, but much flowering happens beneath brighter light circumstance. Select sites with good drained soil. Root rot is a toughie when Mexican Heather remain in a place too wet or if planted too deep. It likewise has bad salt tolerance, so be cautious when applying well water for irrigation. On the positive side, Texas A&M advises it has effective resistance to deer.

There are over 200 species of Cuphea in the Americas and almost 90 of these are discovered growing wild in central and southern Mexico from Chiapas to Durango. Mexican heather grows abundantly on the side or slope of a hill and in fields. The little, bushy plants are draped with small orangy to red to purple blooms.

It develops in thickly branched, two foot tall heaps of thin stems coated in loads of small, elongated form to lance-shaped, bright green leaves which are evergreen in free of frost areas. Bunches of small flowers, normally in tones of purple, but in certain cases is pink or white bloom all on the stems from spring to fall, or the entire year in mild climates.

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