Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Such a lovely plant and not widely grown., 0 by jkom51

jkom51 wrote:
Here in Northern CA it is easy to buy the T. urvilleana and T. heteromalla. I've never seen the T. grandiflora, it must be very beautiful. I have both T. urvilleana and T. heteromalla. They grow well here outdoors, although they are not overly happy with our cold wet winters and need a sheltered spot in the garden bed.

Here is T. urvilleana taken just yesterday. It's been a cold foggy summer and it is a bit late in blooming. This plant was from a 1-gallon can, about 1' tall, planted Oct 2002. This is grown more for the silvery green leaves, as the flower spikes, although beautiful, are not quite as showy as T. heteromalla. The latter has more spectacular, large purple flowers, but the leaves are much smaller than T. urvilleana and the plant has a much more open, airy appearance compared to T. urvilleana.