[pbs] Hesperantha coccinea
Mary Gutierrez
norwesgard at earthlink.net
Wed Nov 1 15:08:23 EST 2006
Hello --
I've been doing some research on Hesperantha coccinea--I'm writing a
short article on it for gardeners in the Pacific Northwest. I've run
across something curious and wanted to see if any of you could
enlighten me.
The S. African websites that I have looked at say that it is a summer
or late summer bloomer--plantzafrica.com says that "flowers are borne
in profusion in summer during the warm and wet months between
December and April." Isn't that analagous to July–October in the
northern hemisphere?
Here in Seattle it begins blooming in October and goes through
December or January. It occasionally pops out a few flowers in early
spring. It's perfectly hardy and evergreen, and makes a nice addition
to the early winter garden.
It is from the eastern Cape, so has rainfall in summer. Since we get
no rain in summer--our rain usually starts in October--is it the rain
that stimulates the flowering, rather than the temperature?
Do any of you US gardeners with summer rain have a different experience?
Mary
Seattle
USDA zone 8
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