RE: Justicia rizzinii

Timothy,

I hope you don't mind me addressing this to the entire
medit-plants group as well.  I suspect that the trick
is heavy fertilizing to promote bloom, and a good
shearing back or tip pinching to promote tight growth.
 Descriptions I have read give a 3 to 4 month bloom
season, we shall see.  It may also be that that spot
at the Huntington which appears to be deep shade may
in fact get some sun during part of the day, I am sure
that neither of us camped out at this spot to track
the sunlight, and I just happened to see it in late
afternoon.  Jason's description of the flowers as
resembling Halloween candy corn is apt!  It is very
similar to the flowers of a Caesalpinia species I saw
last year while down along the Isthmus of Tehuantepec,
the Pacific coast side of Oaxaca, Mexico.  Would love
to combine the two, but suspect I wouldn't have the
slightest chance of getting it to grow and bloom in
cool foggy Berkeley, as this area was in the 90'sF in
January! 

The other Justicia species I grow can also get quite
leggy in too much shade, and certainly bloom better
with regular fertilizing and pinching.  Have you tried
the Justicia carnea 'Huntington Form' with its deep
chocolate or purplish bracts and underside of leaves? 
It is much showier than the typical form.  For some
reason the J. carnea alba form is much more attractive
to snails here in northern California, a problem not
shared by the pink form.


--- Timothy Toohey  wrote:
> Having seen it at the Huntington (spectacular!) I'm
> growing it in partial
> shade in So. Cal.  It seems to be spindly and
> sparse, so there may be some
> trick to it of which I am not aware.  One slight
> disadvantage is that it is
> a fairly unattractive plant for the 10+ months of
> the year that (for me) it
> is not in bloom.


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