Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Description:

An easy to grow mounded variety presenting an abundance of small, hot pink and yellow cigar shaped flowers; compact and well branched; an interesting and head turning favorite for hanging baskets, containers and landscapes; heat and drought tolerant

Ornamental Features

Funny Face Cuphea's pointy leaves remain green in colour throughout the season on a plant with a mounded habit of growth.

Landscape Attributes

Funny Face Cuphea is an herbaceous annual with a mounded form. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and may require the occasional pruning to look its best. It is a good choice for attracting bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Funny Face Cuphea is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting
• Hanging Baskets

Planting & Growing

Funny Face Cuphea will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 12 inches. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. This annual will normally live for one full growing season, needing replacement the following year.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist growing conditions, but will not tolerate any standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.

Funny Face Cuphea is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor containers and hanging baskets. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing the canvas 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.