The Purple Persian Shield
I love the Persian Shield, It's botanical name is strobilanthes dyerianus. This incredibly vibrant purple foliage plant is the perfect addition if you want bright color in your tropical evergreen gardens. Gardeners and plant enthusiast gasp with delight when they see this adorned plant in any garden, and they truly appreciate the beauty of its metallic red, violet to deep purple foliage. The leaves have a bit of a shimmering appearance to them which makes them stand out in any garden. The Persian shield plant can be grown inside but it doesn’t do as well as it would outdoors, but if you do choose to grow it indoors try to provide humidity for it by misting it with water and putting it in a warm spot with direct filtered morning sunlight and indirect bright light for the rest of the day. Its leaves colors are deeper and intense with its new growth and lighter pale colors on the older leaves. Like almost all tropical plants they really lack a cold protective dormancy state which is great for your garden because it will keep producing new foliage.
Ok, Now Do You See Why I love These Colorful Foliage PlantsI have seen many sites conceder this as an evergreen shrubs but in many of my books they are in the category of foliage plants and shrubs both, so for fun let’s just call it a folubs, a combination of both names. No matter what when identifying house plants or exotic plants like these are easy when they’re so unique and beautiful. This is a herbaceous shrub native to Burma and loves warm weather with lots of humidity. When growing these purple shrubs or purple foliage, it prefers filtered sunlight and not direct sun, this may burn the leaves and cause the leaved to not be so colorful and vibrant. They also prefer a rich well drained soil as do most rainforest plants or tropical plants. Make sure to use a fertilizer with either nitrogen or a well-balanced fertilizer to help premothe deep purple leaves.
Another important tip to know when growing a Persian shield is, that these plants do get a bit leggy and lanky so pinching or pruning back the stems is important. The results will make you happy with a thicker fuller even more colorful plant for your tropical evergreen gardens. Watch out besides being shad loving shrubs they can be fast growing shrubs depending on the climate. Don’t let the soil dry out before each watering, what’s really important is the water you use. Make sure to plan ahead and keep a pitcher of water full of water and let it sit out for a day or better yet two to allow the chlorine and other chemicals to evaporate out of the water. The Strobilanthes dyerianus plants will typically grow to about 3 to 5 feet, and can get just about as wide. If growing in your home your plant will profit from using some type of artificial lighting.
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