Justicia Species, Firecracker Flower, Firefly, Water Willow

I took a little bit of a risk with this plant, planting it outside under shelter.. people said it couldn't be done, but amazingly I've pu...Read Morelled it off, not only did it make it through the winter, but it's flowering right now. Only a few flowers, but it's young, and in fairly moist soil. An excellent plant, and quite fast growing in my opinion.. in fact it was often slowly growing through winter in the cool temperatures, believe it or not, although winter was fairly mild. I'll add a photo of mine soon.

edit: 21/09/14. Following the flowering display in Spring, I was surprised to see this plant has self seeded all over my side border bed... Considering the origins of the plant, and where I live, this is pretty amazing, I think.

Edit: 21/12/2014.. Still alive and kicking.. growing fantastic, even in December, looking even better, and to my surprise, getting ready to flower. This seems like a plant that will tolerate cold conditions. I will upload a photo to show the progress in growth achieved.

Edit: 27/05/2015. This will be my last update unless winter claims it next year, the plant was savaged by our puppy in Spring, and was a few twigs left.. however the plant has quickly recovered, not as thickly crowned with leaves as before, but it has still managed to put a few flowers out this Spring.. still alive, and doing well this far north in the world.