VERY SHOWY! This is a beautiful little cuphea from Mexico, reminiscent of Bat Face but with a more slender flower and a deeper scarlet color. Many attractive blooms, nestling above the foliage are brought together in this summer medley mix of vibrant colors. Cuphea miniata is from the Lythraceae (Loosestrife) family. Cuphea miniata is an annual or perennial, at the will of the cultivator. This is a seldom-seen, innovative plant for use in bedding, borders and patio containers. The plant before us is the real old "Crystal Palace" cuphea, the best of the bedding plants of that particular style and tone. This plant is a real gem for winter flowers, and whoever would keep a greenhouse or conservatory gay through all the dead season would do well to grow a few plants of this particular species, rare in cultivation. It is a compact, shrubby, evergreen perennial with slender-pointed, white, bristly-hairy leaves. The bushy plant forms a lax, draping habit which is ideal for baskets and containers. It bears over a long period a profusion of tubular flowers. The Cuphea has colorful, attractive blooms in shades of purple, pink, red, and lilac, that covers soft emerald green foliage on 12 in stems. The flowers are in leafy racemes and have five petals spread like propellers. The Cuphea miniata blooms from June to November! Hardiness zones: 10-11 (1c/35f, 4c/40f). This cuphea does best in the heat and dry of summer. The plant needs protection in winter when cultivated outdoor. Any good soil will suit the cuphea when bedded out, and a dry sunny position should be selected, but if there is no choice, the happy conclusion is that it will do very well almost anywhere. You should fertilize at least monthly (preferably weekly) during growth. Strike the cuttings in May, and in the same month prune rather severely any old plants you have to make bushy young plants of them. Grow them with care, so that they do not suffer for want of water, and when re-potting use a rich, mellow, sandy loam. But in all stages keep the plants in rather smallish pots and you will find them almost always in flower. If you suspect you are carrying the starving process too far, help them with manure water. A few large specimens are worth having; therefore old plants cut back and re-potted as soon as they make new growth are likely to pay for their keep. The plant likes moisture, but it is dangerous to say so, because when liberally grown, it is too leafy, and the flowers are few and very much hidden.