Plant Care Library

Other Names:  Mexican Heather

Description:

A small, very dwarf variety with dainty lilac tubular flowers; grown as an annual in cooler climates; great for bedding, shrub borders, and containers in warm climates

Ornamental Features

Itsy Bitsy Lilac False Heather features dainty lilac purple tubular flowers along the branches from early summer to early fall. Its attractive glossy oval leaves emerge light green in spring, turning green in color the rest of the year.

Landscape Attributes

Itsy Bitsy Lilac False Heather is a multi-stemmed annual with a mounded form. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Itsy Bitsy Lilac False Heather is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Itsy Bitsy Lilac False Heather will grow to be about 8 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 18 inches. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. Although it's not a true annual, this plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider covering it with a thick layer of mulch in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Itsy Bitsy Lilac False Heather is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers and foliage against which the thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.