Mine has never bloomed...didn't know it could haha. Well I will take cuttings from it as well as the potato vine and I am planning on bringing in the angelonia as it never winters here. I am thinking of covering the whole little back porch by the pool with plastic and making a greenhouse to winter my lemon tree and some other things...my patchouli plant too as it is almost 3 ft high. I need more space...sigh. c

It roots very easily for me in water on a sunny window sill under active growth outdoor conditions, and tap water here(chlorinated), doesn't affect it at all. I do find it roots much better in late spring to late summer than this time of year(November/December), and suspect that temps in the 70'sF are ideal, and not falling below 60F at night. Also, it seems to root much better/more quickly if the shoots are not trying to flower, you should definitely pick shoots before the plants start flowering, and maybe try earlier in the year while the plants are still in active growth. (They live over here in the San Francisco Bay Area during our winters, which generally stay above freezing; but the plants do not seem to grow at all during our cold, rainy winters, and also seem to resent our cool springs).I find these plants do much better as house plants/sun porch plants here, where even in summer the nights drop down to 55F. Cuttings potted up in soil and transferred outside really slow down in growth compared to those kept indoors, even in summer, so I think that temperature has alot to do with active growth of this Strobilanthes. Rooting cuttings in June usually results in roots in less than a week's time using water. A heating mat may be advisable this time of year to encourage better rooting.

Enjoyed your porch so much yesterday, I came back for another look :+) Yes, the one thing to never to do to Strobilanthes (persian shield) is let it dry out. I love this plant so much! If I had to choose just 1 plant, this might be it. I bought one little 6-leaf thing about 10 years ago and after a few years had multiplied it into half a dozen plants. I've overwintered potted plants and several years I was unable to do that and overwintered cuttings in water. Last winter I chose to keep just 1 potted plant and I let it dry out & die. I was whining about this to the owner of the garden center Monday and she said if I wanted to buy a whole tray she would be happy to order for me. So sometime soon I should be in purple-leaf heaven. Link below says they sometimes overwinter here in my zone. Will definitely try a few. You are in a warm enough place that you could plant this in the ground to come back year after year, even if it dies above-ground in a frost. Floridata Strobilanthes page Just noticed your comment about bonsai bougainvillea. Boug. is a fast-growing vine which would be extremely difficult to "bonsai" and I don't think you would be pleased with the results. A baby tree or shrub would be a much better choice, especially for a novice. On the bright side, though, your beautiful vine is certainly worthy of a spot in the ground where you can provide some type of support structure, like a fence, pergola, obelish, etc... No such thing as giving it too much sun. Floridata Bougainvillea page To quote you, "After seeing how quickly the soil dries out in my pots that get shade for the second half of the day, I am very doubtful about how well the same plants would fare in the ground where they will get sun for nearly the entire day." Once plants get roots established in the ground, they should be much better able to obtain water themselves, although you might still be using your hose sometimes. Pots for sure need water, sometimes more than once a day if things are wilting. Wilting is almost always a sign of severe dehydration and most plants are extremely stressed by it. The pepper plant and gerber daisy can't get too much sun as long as they don't dry out. (Peppers originate from central and south America, gerber daisies from Africa.) origin of peppers Floridata gerber daisy page

Yes Florah I have an amarnth in there but I got it from a cutting and was not told it's name.It grows quite tall and I recently had to whack it but I propagated the pieces. BUTI found this write up Tapioca is one of the common names of Manihot esculenta 'Variegata' as is cassada, cassava, manioc, yuca, mandioca, shushu, muk shue, cassave, maniok, tapioka, imanoka, maniba, kasaba, katela boodin. The reason we chose the name tapioca is because it is the name of a favorite dessert of mine - tapioca pudding. Tapioca is sort of like Poke Salad made from Poke weed in the Southeastern U.S.-- if the cook doesn't know what he is doing, the meal will kill you! Cooking destroys the prussic acid. In South America, the green leafed Tapioca is grown for its enlarged starch-filled tuberous roots. There is a bitter, poisonous- and a sweet, - nonpoisonous variety of tapioca; however the skin stays poisonous and the sweet variety must be peeled. There are hydrocyanic glucosides (HCN) in all parts of the plant; these glucosides are removed by peeling and boiling in water. The peeled roots of the sweet variety is what the original tapioca pudding was made. I remember enjoying a version of this when I was a baby in Tennessee. I wonder if they were trying to poison me?!? The root of the bitter variety is very poisonous when raw but cooking destroys the hydrocyanic acid -- the cooking water must be discarded just as when cooking Poke Salad. The young leaves are used as vegetable and contain a high amount of vitamin A and C but older leaves are not often used. The bitter ones are grated, diluted in water and pressed in a cylindrical basket-work "press" to extract the juice. The paste of tapioca can be baked into pancake-like bread while the extracted juice is fermented into a strong liquor called kasiri. The juice can also be concentrated and sweetened until it becomes a dark viscous syrup called kasripo (casareep). This syrup has antiseptic properties and is used for flavoring. All of this is to warn folks that variegated tapioca is a clone of a tropical food plant, however, the milky sap of the foliage contains cyanide compounds and SHOULD NOT BE EATEN. Instead of eating this beautiful ornamental plant, go to the closest fast food place to satisfy your hunger. Also, don't worry about your pets eating enough to hurt themselves because all parts of the plants contain distasteful cyanide compounds and have a rough texture which is not very palatable. Deer will eat tapioca but it does not spoil the venison. Variegated tapioca is a heat lover being from South America and does not grow vigorously until night temperatures are warm in spring In fact the foliage will exhibit chilling injury when night temperatures dip much below 50 degrees F. As long as it is hot, variegated tapioca will thrive in most any well drained soil or container potting mix, tolerating a wide range of pH. It enjoys weekly irrigation in lieu of rainfall-- the soil should be constantly moist and mulch should be used. Plants will grow just as well in alkaline soil as they will in acidic soils. They are somewhat tolerant to foliar salt exposure in the Coastal Bend area. Full sun brings out the best foliage color, but plants will tolerate partial shade although the foliage will be less dense and not as vibrant in color. Avoidance of over-watering is critical to success-this is NOT a swamp plant. Variegated tapioca offers an exciting tropical addition to our summer palette of annuals used for foliage color.Try some this summer and enjoy the foliage of South America.