Mexican (false ) Heather ( Cuphea hyssopifolia )
This had totally taken over one of the flower beds when we moved here. I’ve beaten it back to the edges of the garden and kept it there. Last February I cut it back almost to the ground to keep it from getting out of hand again. The bees love it and the cats spend hours hiding in it hitting the bees.
It grows to between 1′ and 2′ in mounds and loves humidity.
It likes light to medium shade and doesn’t seem to mind the dry areas, it does not like wet areas. It does well in shade and can be used as a ground cover under trees.
It is deer resistant, so they have to be very hungry to munch on this one.
Heather can be found in most mountain ranges worldwide. It was brought to North America by Scotsmen who wanted a reminder of home. While the Scotsmen consider heather their own, most varieties of heather are found in South Africa. Very few South African varieties of heather are found far from home.
I find this to be invasive so plant with caution.
This is a plant well loved by bees. All summer it is covered with bumble and honey bees. Consider it as an addition to your bee or butterfly garden.
It is often used to edge beds, especially butterfly beds.
5 Responses to 'Mexican (false ) Heather ( Cuphea hyssopifolia )'
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This is one of the few winter bloomers I have. Subfreezing temperatures did not affect it.
admin
7 Jan 08 at 2:14 pm
I didn’t think anything bothered Mexican Heather. This years hot, windy, dry weather did hurt.
The heather is about half the size it should be at this time and there are no leaves on the bottom half of the plant.
I’ll likely cut these back to the ground in a month or so and they will make it or not.
ljmacphee
25 Aug 08 at 11:31 am
I lost about half of my Mexican Heather’s this past six months and I’ve not a clue why. The remaining ones seem to be doing fine.
ljmacphee
25 Mar 09 at 8:39 pm
The heather seems to be struggling. I’m not sure if it’s the drought or if it’s just a short lived plant?
timestocome
9 Sep 09 at 5:06 pm
The heather was already struggling before the great freeze of 2010. The leaves all browned, I cut it back to the ground today. It’s hard to say whether it’ll come back or not.
timestocome
21 Jan 10 at 10:58 am