Pentas

We saw you on TV one night and you were talking about pentas. We purchased some in white and pink. We have received many compliments on them. Are they an annual or a perennial?

Pentas are an annual and, unfortunately they don’t reseed like larkspur and the tall verbena, you will have to replant it every year.

But the extra effort will be rewarded with ease of care and plentiful blooms. Plus it is one of the best plants for attracting butterflies.

You’ll find that pentas flourishes in full sun. And if you will feed it regularly with an all-purpose liquid fertilizer it will bloom all summer long.

Pentas can make a statement in the flowerbed, but it’s also ideally suited for growing in containers. I know penta is a funny name for a plant, but it begins to make sense if you look closely at its individual flowers. They have five petals, sort of like a pentagon has five sides. Another name this plant goes by that’s perhaps a little more glamorous is Egyptian star cluster.