What a delightful little plant!
bat faced cuphea
I have planted several of these this year and am delighted with them.
A side view ...
They are surely pretty, and so bright too, I love reds and purples.
That is a super closeup htop!!
Both of you are excellent photographers. Nice pics.
I planted several of these this year too. I find that this variety hardly ever tells me it needs water. I have another type of cuphea that does however, so I water them both at the same time. If I plant more cuphea's next year it will definitely be this type. They are so cute and grow fast!
Those are really pretty. I'm going to have to put them on a list of things to get. I do not have any so far.
I absolutely love my bat face plants! It does extremely well in this area...and its real easy to start with cuttings. My neighbors always ask what it is...:) A high recomendation :)
It is a lovely little plant and I love to look at the little faces!!! They do look just like little bats.
They really do have "bat faces", lol. Thought that I would take a photo of mine showing the ears and mouth... :)
Those are just so cute.
excellent plant!
Can you tell me more about this plant? How tall does it grow? What kind of sun does it need? Is it perennial or annual? Does it die back in the winter? I think it is really cute.
This is my first year growing the bat faced cuphea. it is about 2 feet tall and about 2-1/2 feet wide. The ones I have planted are in full sun but get some light shade in the morning. Hardly needs water at all in the ground. I bet though that if it were in a container it would need water more often. In our zone, these are supposed to be a "tender perennial." I am going to mulch over mine in the fall and hope they come back next spring.
ms_merae, before my latest move, i lived in Austin for many years and had luck growing bat faced cuphea.If it is protected from prolonged freezing it should do fine for you and come back better and better each year..nancy
I planted my first bat face just this past weekend. Thy are such neat little flowers!
You'll love them...knolan...so easy to grow and can grow from cuttings with no fuss whatsoever...! One of my favorites... :)
You know they come in different colors
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/60176/index.html
how pretty! No, I had no idea they came in different colors. Man, I am really learning!
I have the pink one.
Yes, cuphea come in all shapes and colors but they are not all "bat-faced!"
those are just cute!
I like it becasue of the bat face but I like all flowers. I'm just going to have to look more closely at these pretty little guys.
Wow...I didn't know they came in different colors either...tho I've seen tiny pink blooms on one type of plant...That lavender/pink color is gorgeous...!
I just love the fact that I can grow more from cuttings. Thanks TxTurq!
Yes check them out- they are really nice plants and I think often under utilized. I also have that tiny one, Susan's Little Gem.
Are the different varieties hard to find? My nursery here is known for carrying some really odd and hard to find plants...but I haven't seen any but the more common varieties. I keep looking at that lavender and pink one...lol
I have had my eyes out for the Starfire variety too and haven't seen it at all this season. I do have another variety that is pretty. It is a bit more bushier than the bat faced, but not as water tolerant or as pretty, in my opinion. I do like it though, just prefer the bat-faced.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/2424/index.html
Edited to add: Thank you to teacup for sharing your experience!!
This message was edited Jul 11, 2006 10:11 AM
I saw these a few weeks ago and couldn't decide if I wanted to buy them. They were calling them tine mice I think. To me they were the bat faced. Anyhow, I went back to get them last week and they were all gone.
Tiny mice is another name, but I think they suit bat face!
There are a couple of places that say they specialize in natural plants and those places are where I have found the less common. There are 2 different cigar plants (orange one that Ms_merae's link shows), one is a smaller variety and the other is larger. Usually those are widely available.
Here is a source for Starfire
http://www.avantgardensne.com/cupsta
This message was edited Jul 12, 2006 10:26 AM
I have a starfire! I'ts scrumptious!
Isn't it? I love it.