Suessenguthia multisetosa

Suessenguthia multisetosa

we have purchased a Colombian Petunia and are not sure about where to place it on our property. outdoors it has dropped to 28 degrees in winter (away from the house) and has been as high as 118 in summer. We do have a protected tropical garden with a heater (thermostat to 45 degrees), fan and misters but it's NOT completely enclosed. There's very little info on the net about this plant and we're wondering if we should have it indoors... Does anybody know or have experience with this plant?

We are located in Tarzana - the south-west San Fernando valley just north-west of L.A. (Zone 19 Sunset or Zone 10 U.S.D.A.) We live on a hillside facing west... hot, hot , hot , hot .........

Julie & Amir

This message was edited Oct 20, 2005 9:27 AM

I'm not an expert on these but did purchase one this summer from Top Tropicals--their website doesn't have a ton of info but does say it freezes to the ground at 27-28 degrees but should come back. I don't know if I would risk leaving it in an unsheltered area over the winter because I haven't had good luck with things coming back once they freeze, but I'm sure it would be fine in your protected tropical garden. I'm planning to keep mine on my patio this winter and see what happens! You might also try posting this over on the tropicals forum and see if anyone over there has any better ideas--you may have better luck finding someone else who's had experience with the plant.

http://www.toptropicals.com/cgi-bin/garden_catalog/cat.cgi