Viewing comments posted by DavidLMO

Two big weaknesses. It is late to show up. This leads to the second and bigger weakness. It tends to look pretty bad over winter: a big brown mass of brown stems once the seeds and leaves fall after it dies back for winter.

Its bloom, though, is worth putting up with these weaknesses. I have about 200 square feet and potted up sixty 3-inch containers this summer. I transplanted them today on a problem bank where I am trying to get it established. It grows by runners and seed, both of which are slow. Some take that to mean invasive, but I conclude far from it. At least under my conditions and in my zone, it is well restrained and is very slow to fill out.

It blooms here in mid to late summer and continues blooming into fall. I do not water it and it has looked fine for 5 years even in the drought years of '12 and '13. It handles our 100-degree temps without missing a beat.

If you can live with its weaknesses, I recommend it as a dry area groundcover.

A beautiful plant for those who like to grow natives. Insects love it.

Be extremely watchful of watering this plant. It is easily killed (more so than an average plant) by overwatering - I learned the hard way.

I love Hot Lips. Even here in Zone 5B. It winters over indoors without missing a beat.
The flower form is neat in that it can be all white, all pink or some combination. Some of the coloration is caused by temperature changes, so a new flush may be different. On my plants, I often have all 3 color schemes at the same time.

Very easy to grow from cuttings. I have taken them at various times, and they always take. But I usually do it in Fall when I am cutting the plant back to bring inside.