Here in Florida, Indian Pink is found only in the panhandle area and grows in habitats of moist woodlands and along stream banks. It is one of the most attractive and ornamental wildflowers found in Florida. Indian Pink is an erect, clump-forming perennial with stiff, square stems and 1 to 4 inch long lance-shaped leaves that taper to a point. Flowers are 1 to 2 inches in length and appear at the top of the stems along one side of the spike. The 1to 2 inch long red (with yellow interior) trumpet-shaped flowers face upward, flaring at the ends to form a 5-lobed yellow star. The flowers are highly attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds.

The fruit of Indian Pink is a 1/4 to 1/2" round green pod that turns black at maturity, exploding to expel the seeds which disperse quickly. The plant readily self-seeds and colonizes.

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Taken from wikipedia's page at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...

"Spigelia marilandica (Indian pink or Woodland pinkroot) is a perennial wildflower in the Loganiaceae family that is used as ornamental plant. It flowers in June and tends to be found low moist woods, ravines, or streambanks in partial or full shade. It will grow to 1 to 2 feet high with a spread of 0.5 to 1.5 feet."

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I have two of these. I live near Seattle, so the climate is very different from where they are from. They do fine and have proved to be drought tolerant. Even in a very long dry summer, I just water them a few times. Very late to emerge in the spring, they finally start blooming midsummer (unlike their home territory). They continue to bloom in flushes until mid fall. I collected seeds by putting an organza bag over the seed pods. Otherwise, they disappear.

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Sunlight Gardens: Indian Pink blooms early summer in good soil and light shade. Clumps grow to 2 feet tall. Leaves occur along stems in 4 to 7 pairs, and flowers occur in one-sided, curving, terminal clusters. Individual flowers are a blazing scarlet, tubular, and have 5 pointed lobes that are bright yellow on the inside. The colors are strong and vivid.

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Indian Pink (Spigelia marilandica) has bright red blossoms and blooms in early summer. Native to the southeastern United States, it is popular with hummingbirds, especially when massed. It does well in average to moist soil in part shade. In my zone 7a garden, it has grown slowly and did not bloom its first season. I'm hoping for some blooms next year.

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I added this plant 2 or 3 years ago. It is under a mature crab apple, 'Prairie Fire,' along with hostas and a few other shade perennials. It is not in the easiest spot for growing, but it is slowly increasing. Now that I see some of the other photos here, I might move it this fall to a better spot where it will have a little brighter, yet filtered light and better soil with no tree root competition. The flowers are very unusual, and the hummingbirds do love them.

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