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Re: Iresine

> Sheila Craig wrote:
> > 
> > Just curious to see if anyone knows anything about an unusual
> > house-plant called Iresine.
[snip]

Vera Diehl <villager@slip.net>wrote:
> I thought perhaps you would  be interested in an article on Iresines
> which I found in Volume 6 of my Encyclopedia of Gardening.   According
> to this source, "Between twenty and twenty-five species have been
> described, but few are cultivated.  They are natives of tropical and
> subtropical America, and belong to the Amaranth family, Amaranthaceae".
> 
> It says, as you do, that Iresine is easily propagated by cuttings and
> "grow so rapidly that cuttings started during March and April furnish
> good-sized plants for the summer beds and borders by the first week in
> June". However "Iresines are tender plants and almost the first to
> suffer damage from frost, so they must be kept in a greenhouse from
> October to April". Have you ever tried growing them outside in a flower
> bed?  Sounds interesting, thanks for telling us of them; I'll see
> whether I can find them here.

Last Spring I rooted a some cuttings and planted them in my shade garden as an
experiment (and I needed some filler in the shade garden!).  They did ok, but
I think they'd grow better in more sun.  Next summer I'm going to plant
cuttings in containers with annuals.  The red foliage will provide some nice
colour.

Interesting that Iresine is native to the Americas, since I saw it growing in
Nepal near the homes of subsistance farmers who certainly don't have the time
or money to cultivate foreign ornamentals.  Since Iresine propagates so
easily, and the climate is similar, I guess one introduction was all it took!

Thanks for the information you found.  Interesting to know a bit more about
one of my favourite house plants.

-Sheila
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