My Shrimp Plant

I used to have this Shrimp plant (Justicia brandegeana) hedge in the courtyard at my old house.

Justica is a genus of about 420 species of flowering plants native mostly to the tropical and warmer parts of the Americas. Some grow in the desert of Arizona and California. The species Justicia brandegeana is named after the American botanist Townshend Stith Brandegee (1843-1925). It is an evergreen perennial shrub Native to Mexico.

The Shrimp plant gets it’s name from the pinkish bracts that surround their less conspicuoous white flower. They are best in partial shade to shade. They like their soil kept moist but not wet.. They do best in well-drained sandy or loamy soil. (Does anyone know of plants that do best in hard packed clay soil?) They can grow up to 4 feet tall and are generallly low maintenance and drought-tolerant.

I use to trim my shrimpy with a hedge trimmer. This worked great because the stems are soft. It cut like butter. The Shrimp plant love to be pinched back. It thrived and was easily shaped.

I bought this Shrimp plant from a store on the coast (which used to be my favorite nursery/store but something weird happened which will be discussed in another post.) It is not as pretty as my old Shrimpy plant but I thought it was interesting looking so I bought it.

I finally got around to potting it and it already has new growth on it.

This Shrimp plant did not come with a species name. So I’m going to call it Shrimpy II

By the way, humming birds love Shrimp plants.

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Comments

[kate]

This is a cool plant. I love the shrimpy colour of the bracts.

You will have to take regular pics so we can see the plant's progress!