CUPHEA melvillea

Unusual shrub, perennial and semi-deciduous, with medium growth and thick and rounded habit. It belongs to the Lythraceae family and it is native to Mexico and Central and South America. When fully developed, it grows more than 1.50 m tall and approximately 1 m large. Woody and branched from the base, it has numerous stems with an initial erect bearing: at the top they branch further and diverge a little giving the bush a dense and roughly hemispherical shape. The branches have thin, narrow and lanceolate bright green color leaves, with smooth margins and acute apex, glabrous and opposite. From late autumn and throughout winter, numerous loose spikes of joyful flowers with a tubular shape and yellow-orange color appear on the apical parts of the stems.

Cultivation in full sun is recommended, although the plant also tolerates partial shade conditions, which is harmful to flowering and general appearance. It adapts to any type of soil, as long as it is well drained, although it prefers those of medium fertility and humid. In coastal areas, it is preferable to place it in a sheltered position, as it responds poorly to the presence of brackish winds. It overcomes periods with temperatures a few degrees below zero, during which it reacts defoliating completely. Once well acclimatized, it can also face periods of drought, although it benefits from periodic summer wetting. Upon spring awakening, together with the elimination of dry, broken or cluttered parts, drastic pruning is possible, reducing the stems even to a third of their length: the plant will be able in a short time to regain its typical shrubby form. It can be grown in medium-sized pots and containers on terraces and balconies; in the open ground, both as a single specimen and in sequence of many, to form a medium height hedge, they can give our garden, in a season that is now tending to vegetative rest, unusual and abundant blooms, with warm and sunny tones.