Features
Characteristics
Plant Needs
FEATURES
Characteristics
Plant Type:
Annual
Height Category:
Tall
Garden Height:
24 - 40 Inches
Spacing:
18 - 24 Inches
Spread:
18 - 36 Inches
Foliage Colors:
Green, Pink, Purple, Red
Foliage Shade:
Fuchsia, maroon-purple and green tricolor foliage
Habit:
Upright
Container Role:
Thriller
Tolerant to:
Heat
Resists:
Deer
Plant Needs
Light Requirement:
Sun or Shade
Maintenance Category:
Easy
Bloom Time:
Grown for Foliage
Hardiness Zones:
10a, 10b, 11a, 11b
Water Category:
Average
Uses:
Border Plant, Container, Landscape, Mass Planting
Light Requirements:
The optimum amount of sun or shade each plant needs to thrive: Full Sun (6+ hours), Part Sun (4-6 hours), Full Shade (up to 4 hours).
Uses Notes:
Great in containers and landscapes. They work well in both sun and shade.
Maintenance Notes:
These are heat tolerant plants, that aren't particularly fussy and they need little routine maintenance. They will perform best if an application of controlled release fertilizer is included at the time of planting. This applies to both landscape and container plantings. The plants aren't particularly heavy feeders, so a single dose is usually sufficient for landscape beds in most climates. If you have a very long season, a second application of controlled release plant food should be considered for landscape beds. In general, containers need to be fed more than landscape plants. A second application of a controlled release fertilizer should be applied about every two months to container plants or you can regularly apply water soluble fertilizer starting about two months after the containers are planted. These extra applications of plant food can really make a difference in performance through the summer.
If your plant begins to look open or a bit tired, an allover trim can be beneficial. Use a sharp pair of scissors or pruning shears to trim back up to 1/3 of the volume of the plant. I pair any trim with a dose of water soluble fertilizer to provide instant energy to help kickstart new growth and branching. Your plant will take some to recover from the trim, but the end result is a fuller, more dense plant going forward. You may repeat the trim as needed through the season.
