I've grown Acalypha wilkesiana since I arived in Florida 25 years ago. They take full sun to 1/2 day shade. And yes, they can freeze back in tempatures that dip around 32 degrees. In south Florida, they can reach upwards of 15 foot. but here in St Pete, 6 foot is more like. I have several around my yard. My big red one - "Louisiana Red" stops traffic. The white one named "Java white" always gets an Wow! And don't forget about the chenille plant, it's in the same family, too. I think they're very easy to grow. If you can grow a hibiscus, you will not have any trouble growing one of these. Does anyone know the name of this one? http://community.webshots.com/photo/85749816/102335439FbLFIe Here is a link that might be useful: Louisana Red

My best guess is that the set is from the 30's, American made in a French style. No clue about the value, since that depends on your area.

I like the chair, do you ? Have it fixed if you do. It has clean simple lines leaning towards "mission style". Hard to say what kind of wood it is . It's safe to say it's not a quality wood,( oak, mahogany,walnut etc..) but don't let that disuade you from keeping it. Any skilled/qualified craftsman will ba able to repair those damaged areas. It requires fabricating a piece of wood to fit into each location . The seat is definately needlepoint based on the photos.It doesn't look to be worth saving, based on the two damaged areas. If the needlepoint wasn't damaged , you could have a ( qualified) upholstery cleaner clean it for you and it will look like new. As for putting money into it, you have to make that call.It's a double edged sword, if you have the repairs made, you should have it refinished, it will allow the refinisher to do a better job on the repairs as far as being able to work with the entire chair instead of having to work around the areas of the chair that will not be refinshed.

Casey, I'm wondering if these chairs would have a better chance being sold on their own or with the bistro like table that I bought them with. I have this posted on the decorating forum, to get ideas of how to redo the set. From a furniture point of view, (someone did mention that even during the period these chairs were around, that they might have been found painted black) and painting them black is what I'm contemplating. The base of the table is iron, and I'd give it a freshen up with black, and I'd paint the table top red and reseal it with poly. here's the set