Shrimp Plant, Red

Winter hardy to USDA Zones 10-11. In zones 5 and lower , grow in the garden as a summer annual, in containers that can be overwintered indoors or as a houseplant. In the ground, plants need a moist, organically rich, well-drained soil in full sun. Tolerates part shade. Houseplants are best in warm, humid, sunny locations. Native to Peru, lollypop plant (also called golden candle or shrimp plant) is a tropical evergreen shrub or subshrub that grows 2-6’ tall in its native habitat. When grown in containers in the zones 5 and lower area, it grows much shorter, more typically to 12-18” tall. Narrow, tubular, two-lipped white flowers are partially covered by and protrude from showy, overlapping golden yellow bracts which provide the predominant structure and color to the 4-sided inflorescences. Yellow bracts somewhat resemble the overlapping scales on a shrimp, hence the common name of shrimp plant. Although it blooms throughout the year in its native habitat, this species blooms primarily in summer in the zones 5 and lower area. Very similar in appearance to Justica. Pachystachys in Greek means thick spike in obvious reference to the flowering spikes. Lance-shaped to elliptic medium green leaves (to 6” long) are heavily veined.