Start a Conversation with Bat-faced Cuphea

Cuphea llavea, commonly called Bat-faced Cuphea, is a real conversation starter. It has lance-shaped green leaves and tubular flowers topped with what look much like purple "bat faces" with bright red "ears." It is one of the most interesting blooms I have seen:

I discovered this plant earlier this year at another gardener's home and soon found three for my own garden. This is a native perennial in Mexico and Central America, but it usually grows as an annual below USDA hardiness zone 10. In zones 8-9, it sometimes will survive the winter if well mulched, dying down at frost, then returning with warmer spring temperatures. It can grow in the ground or in a pot. If in a pot, it may be overwintered inside by a bright window.

Cuphea blooms over a long season, from late spring till frost. The bat faces are small but are produced in abundance and do not need to be deadheaded.
There are now cultivars that produce blooms other than red, such as pink, purple and white. The nectar-rich blooms are very attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds.

Plant Bat-faced Cuphea in full sun in well-draining, rich, organic soil. In intensely hot regions it can take some afternoon shade. It should be watered regularly until the roots are established. After that it is fairly drought tolerant.

It can grow up to two feet tall by three feet wide. When it is about ten inches tall or when it becomes leggy, the plant may be pinched or sheared back to produce a bushier, more floriferous plant. I definitely recommend this. Mine have become leggy, producing blooms mostly at the end of the stem. Mine are getting pinched this week! Fertilize monthly with a balanced fertilizer, or use a slow-release fertilizer in spring.

Hot Summer in the Garden

It's miserably hot and humid. I walk outside, and within moments I am sweating like an oil rig worker. I wear lots of sunscreen, so the broiling effect is enhanced. 

I should not complain. This is completely normal weather for Alabama in August. I have lived here all my life, so I should be used to it by now. Overall, our summer has not been a bad one. The good news is that September is coming.

Meanwhile, most of the garden looks something like this, with little color other than shades of green. Interest comes from various textures and the play of shadow and light:

A little pink shows in the tropical bromeliads plopped down beside a woodland garden path:

A bowl of succulents also provides some subtle color:

Many flowers don't fare well in our August climate. Lots of them look like this:

Bright pink Pentas are an annual that revels in the heat, though in its hanging basket it does need to be watered regularly. It attracts many butterflies and other pollinators, except when I wanted to take a photo! I had to settle for this decorative iron hummingbird:

I have several dwarf butterfly bushes (Buddleia), and they have also been a butterfly magnet through the summer:

Here are more flowers that bloom reliably through the hottest part of our summer:Clockwise from top left: Helenium and purple Veronica; Tropical Hibiscus; Delicate white bloom of Persicaria 'Red Dragon'; Annual Angelonia with yellow marigold in the background.

In the woodland garden I placed a ceramic mushroom on a stump. Its cap wiggles in the wind. This one is understated, but ornaments are a good way to add a bit of color to a green garden:

Finally, Tradescantia zebrine, also called Striped Wandering Jew, is an easy-care annual hanging in a shady area near the arbor garden. I love its beautiful variegated foliage. I have lost more than one plant in a hanging basket this summer. Not this one.