Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
ibheri

Bat Face Cuphea & ??

ibheri
11 years ago

I got a Bat Face Cuphea from ARE (along with Ducher)over the weekend. I was thinking about growing Bat Face Cuphea in a container. I have a really big pot which my cousin's wife gave me before they moved to India. I have never made good use of it so far. Any suggestions on what i could grow as a combination with BFC?

On second thoughts, should I just let it grow next to Ducher in the ground? Oh, sometimes its just hard for me to make these kind of decisions.

Thanks,

Indu

Comments (13)

  • plantloverkat north Houston - 9a
    11 years ago

    Whether you plant it in a pot or in the ground is really a matter of personal preference.

    I grow my bat faced cuphea in the ground with Ducher on one side and red ruellia on the other side. I also have red turks cap growing in the same bed a little further away.

    Here is a link that might be useful: red ruellia

  • ibheri
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thankyou Plantloverkat, how big is your Dutcher? I am trying to understand how much spacing do I need to give if I plant it next to Ducher. Can you please share some pictures if you have any?

  • plantloverkat north Houston - 9a
    11 years ago

    The bat faced cuphea is about 4 feet away from Ducher, with the Ducher also being a bit behind in the bed and the cuphea a bit more to the front. Currently, Ducher is only about 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide. In spring 2011, I impulsively removed many of its canes because it had gotten so large - guessing maybe 7' x 7', and I needed to work near Ducher so I did very major pruning. I don't have any photos at present, but I can try to look around for some in the next couple of days.

  • roselee z8b S.W. Texas
    11 years ago

    I saw Bat face cupheas planted in pots at ARE in San Antonio. It looked really good that way since it tends to want to grow wide rather than tall.

    I just looked and one of Shirley's blog posts on ARE shows them growing at the bottom of the steps of the gift shop. Scroll down a bit to see them.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Rock-Oak-Deer: The Antique Rose Emporium - San Antonio

  • ibheri
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Wow, 7' * 7'. Thats pretty big, ARE says something like 5' * 3'. I may have to be ready for some pruning then. I was also reading your old posts on Clematis, lot of info. Thankyou very much.
    Roselee, I was able to look at the pictures from Rock-Oak-Deer's blog. Very pretty. I read that it does not get too tall we can see hummers flying low.

  • cynthianovak
    11 years ago

    I have two Ducher and this year I did not prune them back. Allowing them to weep over they are easily 6 ft tall. If I held some of the cane straight up I'm betting they are closer to 7. i need to take the hedge trimmer to them now that the blooms are done for a while.

    I like Bat face in a pot trailing down all by itself. In fact, I brought home a hanging basket specimen to do just that for instant trailing gratification. I will plant it in soil in a pot so it won't dry out as much. Last year was hard even on that hardy water sipper.
    c

  • cweathersby
    11 years ago

    Ducher is a big one. 7 x 7 sounds right. It looks so beautiful and mounding at that size that I wouldn't want to prune it back to only 3 ft wide. That would take the beauty out of it.
    Bat face cuphea would look great in a pot- my only problem is that I don't have enough time to water pots, and so it would die that way. Very tolerant to negligence in the ground.

  • ibheri
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I think I killed it... I just couldn't believe myself. I may have neglected it for like 2 days and it just dried up.. The weather is not super hot either. I still have it in the pot and I am hoping it may put out some fresh growth but I seriously doubt it. Quite disappointed :(

  • roselee z8b S.W. Texas
    11 years ago

    It may come back. I bought some zinnias in 4 in. pots off Lowes sale rack and though I watered the tray I wasn't watching them closely and I think the water was running off the top instead of soaking in, but a good soaking in a saucer of water brought them back.

  • rock_oak_deer
    11 years ago

    Don't give up on it, my Bat Face Cuphea has dried out completely several times and came back from the roots. it even dropped all its leaves and was just sticks for a few weeks.

  • Leslie02
    11 years ago

    I bought a Pinkish Cuphea this year from ARE in san antonio, it was the last one on the table and it has purple/magenta type blooms but had no tag, it is a Cuphea though that I'm sure of. Just wondering if anyone knows the name of it?

    Also, I find it does really well in a large pot with sweet potato vine cascading over the sides (though I have to keep pruning the vine since it wants to take over the pot)

  • ibheri
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thank you Rock_oak_deer, I am continuing to water it hoping it will come back. Thats exactly how mine is, all dry sticks.

  • roselee z8b S.W. Texas
    11 years ago

    Leslie, I think the purplish one is commonly called a cigar plant which is also of the cuphea family. The purple one is a miniature variety, but I don't know it's name. It's very pretty and sounds wonderful combined with ornamental sweet potato vine.

Sponsored
Dream Design Construction LLC
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars4 Reviews
Loudoun County's Innovative General Contractors