Other Names:  False Heather

Group/Class:  FloriGlory Series

Brand:  Westhoff

Description:

Small, freely branching and highly floriferous, covered with dainty lavender flowers from spring to fall; grown as an annual in cooler climates; a vigorous grower, great for bedding, shrub borders, and containers in warm climates

Ornamental Features

FloriGlory® Sofia Mexican Heather features dainty lavender tubular flowers with gold throats along the branches from late spring to early fall. Its attractive small glossy oval leaves emerge light green in spring, turning green in colour the rest of the year.

Landscape Attributes

FloriGlory® Sofia Mexican Heather is a multi-stemmed annual with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

FloriGlory® Sofia Mexican Heather is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

FloriGlory® Sofia Mexican Heather will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 18 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 16 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. Although it's not a true annual, this fast-growing plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

FloriGlory® Sofia Mexican Heather is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers and foliage against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.