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Strobilanthes dyerianus |
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| | First planted in June... |
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| | ...nicely grown by October |
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| Common name |
Persian shield |
| Family |
acanthaceae |
| Life cycle |
perennial (Z9-11)  |
| Flowers |
violet |
| Size |
3-4' |
| Light |
sun-part shade |
| Cultural notes |
ordinary garden soil, not too dry |
Shrubby perennial native to Myanmar with strikingly variegated leaves, metallic purple on dark green. Leaves are longer (4-7") than they are wide. In hot-summer areas, foliage color is best where the plant receives some shade. Although the plant is rated hardy to only zone 9 or even 10, a fellow gardener here in my zone 8b area reported that hers has survived for many years, so perhaps it is root hardy in colder zones. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Certainly, the top growth doesn't survive even mild freezes, as evidenced by the photo below, taken after three consecutive nights of temperatures dipping just below 32F. But I'm happy to report that one of my two plants survived the severe freeze of January 2018, returning from the roots in late March. The one that didn't had grown more weakly the previous season, and probably didn't establish a good enough root system to weather the cold.
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| | Frost-damaged plant |
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This plant used to grow in our garden, but it slipped away... About my plant portraits
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| Ocie Swead | Jul 30, 2021 | I love this plant. I had one for about 6 months. I went out to water and It
looked as if someone had taken a razor blade and cut each leaf. What insect cuts like that. I have since gotten another and even propagated it. I am proud of it but I still wonder what could have happen to the first one. I live in a private residence and no kids to blame this own. |
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