Cuttings for a future swap ?
I have only the candy corn Cuphea and just love it .
Froze back hard but has returned beautifully .
Mine does not bloom until the end of summer .
Looks just like the edible candy corn .
Butterflies and hummers love it .
Nice photos Kate .

Cuttings for a swap, for sure. I never had a lot of luck with cuttings on the bat face - does green stem or woody stem work best for cuphea?

I have two right now, Kate, and neither is one of yours. I have one with very dainty purply flowers called "Ballistic" and one Judy gave me that I think is called Starlight or something similar. It has flowers shaped like cigar plant, but in shades of pink & rose. Mine are VERY tiny right now, but it won't be long before I can start some cuttings of those two for you.

My favorite is the brilliant red & purple one called Samba. Very ruffly like your pretty one in the last picture. I need some cigar plant, too. Hummers really like that one, indeed.

Marcia

Here are pictures like the two I have, Kate. Ballistic is really cute & different looking. Very dainty.

And this is Twinkle Pink (not Starlight...I don't know why I keep calling it that).

And the more I look at your photos, the more I think that last one might be Samba. Or Flamenco. Oh, heck...what do I know? But it sure is pretty!

Marcia

Oh, Kate, now you are talking my favorite subject too! I have 4 cuphea in the ground right now and am trying seeds on two more. I have the Twinkle pink, like Marcia's [that one roots really well by the way], the Bat Face (doesn't root well but I did get 3 seedlings when I repotted it this year),The Cigar cuphea, like your's (does root well) and another that I thought I had lost this winter but is coming back but I will have to wait for it to bloom as I have forgot what it is called. The seeds I am trying are Cuphea Miniata (doing well, almost all the seeds have sprouted] and Cuphea "Matchless" [not doing so well, none of the seeds have sprouted yet but the packet says they can take up to 3 weeks to sprout].

I will be attending the Deland swap later this month so if anyone is interested I can bring cuttings to the Twinkle Pink and Cigar cupheas and can maybe part with one of the Bat Faced! I will have to see how the seedlings come along as they are tiny right now.

gatormom, Does the Candy Corn root for you? If it does I would love to have a cutting or two. I had that one once and loved it but my dog ate it! [Bad Dog!]

nova

I had twinkle pink, but lost that one too. I would love a cutting when it gets big enough. I think the first one in my pictures might be similar to Ballistic. See the tiny petals on the lower part of the flower? And the white upper (dorsal?) petal? The larger petals on Ballistic look darker and more 'shapely'. Who knows... you know I never keep a plant tag and never know the names of any of my babies.

I'll try cuttings of everything and we'll see what happens.

Nova, now that you mention the name candy corn, I remember that I had that one too! It was a large shrub, almost as big as cigar flower. It either didn't make it or it's starting slow. I'll check it when I'm weeding today (just as soon as I finish breakfast and email!).

Ohh, I want one of everything too!! The only one I have at the moment is batface and am looking for the others. I've never tried to root the batface, but a limb that touched the ground rooted itself and it made a nice plant so that may be a possible way to root them all. Hope someone brings some to Ricky's swap.

Ginny

I have the cigar plant and tried it for the first time last year. I loved it. The flowers and the shape of the plant are just very pleasing to the eye. It did freeze down to the ground along with just about everything else but seems to be coming back. I didn't realize there were so many different types of cuphea though. As usual, I learn a thing or two here.

Melissa

The guy at Designing Women told me that "bat-face" or "bat-faced" is a type of cuphea and not a variety. He said Ballistic is a bat-faced cuphea, as is Samba, and several others. According to him, any of the cupheas with two large "ears" on top can be called a "bat-faced type" of cuphea. Does anyone know if this info is correct? Or is there ONE specific one called "Batface?" (I don't take everything the nursery employees tell me as gospel, since many often seem to know less about plants than I do. Or at least about SOME plants.)

Kate, yours could be a Ballistic as they look similar, but I'd have to see them side by side, as the pictures I found online really don't show the blooms looking quite as "dainty" as they do on my plant. Then again, maybe my plant isn't as vigorous as it should be. It was mighty skimpy on leaves, and I know THAT'S not how it ought to look.

Nova, I would love a cutting of cigar plant if you have enough, but not to worry if you don't. You are bringing me some very special things, and I don't want to be greedy.

Marcia

We're gardeners! Of course we're greedy!

I agree that bat face or bat faced is a type; that makes sense. There are several color variations with the same shape. I still refer to the first one I saw by that generic name though. Sorry to be confusing. My original Bat Faced Cuphea had a bright red 'face', very distinctive dark purple 'ears', white eye spots and a dainty black nose. You looked at it and instantly thought 'Bat!'. It got large and sprawled all over but I loved it. Every spring I thought it was dead, then it would come back. Not this year though.

I was able to root 3 pots of Candy Corn cuphea last Fall . They over wintered in pots and are just now beginning to return .
The plants in the ground are 18" to 2 feet tall . The ones in the pot are microscopic . The pots are filled with roots just waiting to grow in the ground soil and get going .
The Cupheas will really bush out and bloom better if pinched back occasionally .
I will bring them to the DeLand swap .

I have killed every cuphea known to man. Even mexican heather. I've convinced myself they cannot be grown in zone 10b this far west. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
The one that did best for me was a cutting from Kates swap years ago, but even that succumbed.I have been known to let them dry out in their pots and that's the kiss of death.
I guess what I really want to say is I'm impressed that you guys can grow this. :)

Oh don't be impressed! You know my whole gardening plan is "love it, buy it, plant it where ever there's a space (unless I forget it in the pot), promptly forget the name, water it sometimes, fertilize it seldom, be absolutely delighted when it blooms and sad when it dies". When I'm successful, it's purely luck!

Now, what was the name of that plant again? Does it grow here?

Kate

Kate wrote - "love it, buy it, plant it where ever there's a space (unless I forget it in the pot), promptly forget the name, water it sometimes, fertilize it seldom, be absolutely delighted when it blooms and sad when it dies". When I'm successful, it's purely luck!"

Oh Kate, you and I must have learned to garden from the same book. You have described my gardening technique to a "T"!

nova