|
Strobilanthes dyerianus (Persian Shield) - A beautiful evergreen (frost free areas) sub-shrub that can grow to 3 to 4 feet tall by 2 to 3 feet wide but is most often used as a summer bedding plant. The foliage has a seersucker texture with softly hairy, green-veined pinkish-purple leaves that have a silver iridescence on the upper surface and solid purple undersides. The 1 1/4-inch-long violet flowers, born in clusters in spring.
Plant in shade or filtered light in a well-drained soil and irrigate regularly. It is deer and rabbit resistant. Evergreen (ever purple) in mild locations and can resprout from the ground in colder climates - mulch around base for best results and trim flowers spent off to keep the plant more attractive and repeated pinching to keep growth in check is also beneficial. A nice plant for containers, though seems to only live on for a few years in our climate.
This plant comes from Burma (Myanmar), India and China. The name for the genus comes from the Greek word 'strobilos' meaning "a cone" and 'anthos' "a flower" from the form of the buds and emergent flowers and the specific epithet honors the botanist Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer (1843-1928) a Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. We grew this plant from 2004 to 2007.
The information displayed on this page about Strobilanthes dyerianus is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
|
