I was given Persian Shield / Strobilanthes dyerianus in a secret trade this year, now I'm worried how to keep it alive over winter...any tips anyone? Can I just bring it inside with other house plants?
This is one awesome plant & I'd hate to lose it..Please help...
Hugs Carol
This message was edited Aug 12, 2004 7:25 PM
How to overwinter Persian Shield?
It can be cut back and rooted then kept over like Coleus.
Mine stayed outside, unattended, this past winter.... but I am in Zone 9 and we did NOT have any freezes. I am glad that the plant is growing well for you! If a freeze is predicted this year, I will cover mine with a garbage bag and cross my fingers.
A couple of years ago, I purchased the original plant from this lady on eBay. On the auction page, she says you can bring it in during winter:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=25463&item=4317843971
Persian shield is really easy to root. To keep mine from getting too leggy, I pinch off the tops, then just stick those tops down in a pot of soil and, miraculously (for me), they take. So having a pot of cuttings, "just in case," is not a bad idea.
Jean
It is one of my favs,I have loved it since the first time I saw it,a welcome member of the yard here.
Here it is a tough plant: roots on the spot, lives thru floods and drought... treating like a coleus indoors seems spot on advice!
Carol
I keep mine in the greenhouse, and I cut it back too and stick mine in a glass of water till it roots, I've never been able to root this in potting soill, it just wilts and dies, for some reason, but water, does the trick forme.
kathy
jean, I checked out that ebayer, she's got neat stuff, high dollar though, man, that's alot of money for a persian shield, LOL, I got one up in mossouri while I was there, and it's humongous now, have taken 6 or 7 cuttings off it and rooted them, now I have lots of them LOL could make a bundle selling them on ebay I guess. I should do that.
Kathy, I didn't know the shield would root in water. I'll try that too. It does wilt in the potting soil, but after watering the cuttings for about a week, they come back strong.
Yes, that was a lot for a plant, but I bought it before I realized that I could find it locally (at least she sends healthy, really nice large plants). Money well-spent though.... I've made many 'new' plants off the original one, which is now about five feet tall and just beautiful! Whoo yes! If we bothered to sell our divisions on eBay, we could pick up a nice chunk of change, huh?
Jean
yep we sure could, 5 feet is huge, bigger than mine for sure.
kathy