Product Description:
The Pentas plant is a proven winner in the garden. Pentas give homeowners a blast of color. Their flowers attract hummingbirds and butterflies.Pentas (Pentas lanceolata) are also called Egyptian stars for the bloom’s five-pointed shape. The plant is a shrub that gets up to 6 feet (2 m.) tall and 3 feet (1 m.) wide. It is a scrubby plant with an unruly shape, sporting oval to spear-shaped foliage. If you’re looking for a showy, easy addition to a sunny spot in your garden, you cannot do much better than a Pentas plant. Pentas plants develop small, star flowers in bright, bold hues for summer-long blooms. Pentas flowers range in color from white, red, or pink, with new cultivars of lavender or purple. Flowers displaying pink hues have red hints in the center.
Light:
Pentas will grow in partial shade but an area that gets full sun or at least 6 hours of bright sunlight every day is best.
Water:
When the soil begins to dry out, it’s time to water. Put in an inch or two of water for every 2″ to 4″ inches of dry topsoil. Repeat the watering cycle when the soil begins to dry out.
Soil:
Pentas plants prefer well-drained soil
Fertilizer:
When spring planting perennial and annual Pentas flowers include a granular slow-release fertilizer.
Temperature:
This plant is very versatile and can be grown as a perennial in warm climates or as an annual outdoors in areas. As a semi-tropical plant, Pentas loves warm weather and will happily grow outdoors all year longer in warmer western climates.
How To Propagate The Pentas:
Pentas propagate easily from cuttings or seeds.
- Before taking cuttings prepare small pots with a moistened starter medium. I like to use a 50/50 mix of peat moss and perlite.
- Take cuttings from the terminal wood early in the morning.
- Make a hole in the starter pots, stick the cutting in and firm the soil around the cutting.
- Place the cuttings in a shaded location out of the direct sun and the wind.
- Cutting should begin to root in a few weeks.
