Chinese Violet (Asystasia gangetica)

lovely plant, great photo.

bootandall, thanks. This plant is a winner from what I have observed. It seems not to require a lot of water, has no insect nibbles in it, blooms constantly and doesn't need staking. What cught my eye was the bloom color. The plants are planted in a bed that has chartreuse colored coleus and yellowish-gold coleus (behind the tree in the photo). The combination of colors is striking.

These bees were so fast in and out of the blooms that I had to take quite a few photos before I caught one just going in and one that was not blurred. I bet they thought, "What is this fool doing?" Bees have never stung me even though I am always poking around where they are. Wasps are a different story ...

Thanks again for your comments.

Nice close up. Insects tend to fly away when I have a camera in my hands.

Monocromatico, thanks. I sat there for awhile and the bees must have either decided I was harmless or they were so intent on the nectar that they ignored me. I used a macro setting and was within 2 inches or so of them. I did have to chase them around a little.

Monocromatico, I visited this plant yesterday and was very happy to find a few seedpods that were dry and had not dispersed the seeds yet. There were a lot of seedpods that are still green. I do not know if I should gather some of the green ones. We are going to have a hard freeze Saturday. I discovered that the stems root where they are touching the ground. Because the plants are going to freeze (they had some leaf burn from 2 light freezes), I snipped one stem that was rooting, planted it in a pot and will keep it inside during cold weather. Thanks for telling me it roots so easily.

Cool, I hope everything goes alright with your new plant. I honestly don´t know if you can collect green seed pods. My 6th sense tells me that the seeds would not develop if you take the green pods from the plant... but I´d try anyway.

That's what I thought. I have never taken seedpods that are not fully dried. But because we are going to have a hard freeze 2 nights in a row, I thought I should take a few that have not fully dried and hope for the best. I probably have enough seeds in the dried seedpods to have a good start with this plant in the spring. I may even take a few more stem cuttings that have rooted already. My husband told me that if I get caught that I'll be in big trouble, but the plants are going to freeze to the ground in a couple of days anyway. They are pulling up all of the plants that are not winter hardy and replanting winter hardy ones. These will be the next ones they pull up. Plus, I'm pretty sneaky when I'm doing it! :o) I have never done this before, but I feel I am saving the next generation of a plant I can not purchase here.

Monocromatico, I asked the person at the place where this plant is located (outside The Garden Shop at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens) if it would be okay if I took some cuttings that had roots on them from the plant. She said I could so I took about 5 from inconspicuos places. I am a very happy camper now. I examined the growth habit more carefully. It is actually only one plant that does have a sort of viney, spreading growth habit.

I just noticed today a bed in front of a mall near home where they grow this plant. It´s regularly pruned, forming a dense hedge that blooms often, though not as often as other plants left alone. I´m finding out that this species can be used in many ways.

Pruning it into a small hedge sounds like a great idea if it must be kept under control. Hopefully, if my cuttings grow and the seeds sprout, I will be able to find a spot in which to plant it in a mass planting next spring where it can do its thing without having to be pruned back. I am anxious to find out if it freezes to the ground.

Monocromatico, I wanted to thank you again for informing me that this plant can be easily rooted. The cuttings I took in December are growing and now that the weather is warmer, they are starting to take off. They have had small blooms on them all winter and are producing larger ones now. I brought them into the house during freezes. The mother plants survived the winter unprotected, but then we had a relatively mild winter with no temperatures falling into the 20s where it is located. I am going to attempt to start them from seeds now. Thanks again. I am very happy to have my very own plants because of the information you provided.

You´re welcome ^.^