Plant Care Library

Group/Class:  Fairy Dust Series

Brand:  Proven Winners

Description:

Small, freely branching shrub or subshrub with unusual, airy delicate lavender-pink flowers that fill the spaces in mixed container and garden displays; grown as an annual in cooler climates; heat and drought tolerant

Ornamental Features

Fairy Dust® Pink Cuphea has shell pink tubular flowers with lavender overtones and rose stripes along the branches from late spring to mid fall, which emerge from distinctive dark red flower buds, and which are interesting on close inspection. Its small oval leaves remain green in color throughout the year.

Landscape Attributes

Fairy Dust® Pink Cuphea is an open multi-stemmed annual with a mounded form. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

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 bees and butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Fairy Dust® Pink Cuphea is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Fairy Dust® Pink Cuphea will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity extending to 16 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 15 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 10 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. 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 applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.

Fairy Dust® Pink Cuphea 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 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.