Cuphea glutinosa

Tough, dependable and always flowering are a few words I use to describe this little plant. Perennial Cuphea is a mat-forming species with wiry stems that are covered all season with small purple flowers. It has performed brilliantly in our low water use beds for more than 12 years. We’ve recently discovered that it also works great when used as a filler/spiller in mixed containers. Perennial Cuphea is native to east Texas and western Louisiana as well as a few countries in South America. It also goes by the name Hardy Mexican Heather, and the less glamorous, Sticky Waxweed. It’s possible that our plants could be descendants of some breeding work done by the University of Georgia back in the 1980’s, though ours have have reseeded a few times so they are not direct clones. The generations of reseeding in our garden has likely increased the cold hardiness of our plants.