This is an exotic member of a great plant family that grows tall like jewelweed and gets bulbs like a dahlia. I bought a little bulb of this plant about seven years ago from Strange Wonderful Things on eBay. It grew quickly the first couple of years and multiplied, and bloomed, but I find it tough to grow well–or maybe I just haven’t tried hard enough.

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I get the sense that I’m growing these plants too warm in the summer and they get spider mites and dry out too much in-between waterings. For 2020, I’m going to try moving a few pots of these bulbs out to the back patio to see if they do better outside the greenhouse. I’m also going to plant some into the garden to see whether they winter over.

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These plants did particularly well in 2020 on the back patio in partial shade. They were only in gallon-sized pots, but they bloomed much better than they ever have before.