These are great in the tropical garden. This was transplanted from another spot in the garden about 18 months ago and she's doing great.

Close up

I agree....great plants.

I have several different species...all of which are MONSTER growers!   The speed with which they add height and width is astounding.

My favorite is Acalypha hispida (Chenille Plant).

Terrific pic, Wal.

Does anyone have Acalypha godseffiana - the pink & bronze type?   Seems to be a color difference in the individual plants - some seem more bronze-ish, some more maroon.  Or is it just the amount of sun bringing out the different colors?

How are they to grow?  Still looking for fast screening, preferably that would go well with hot-pink bougainvillea and winter-flowering cassia (bicapsularis).

Near here, there's a beautiful display of the yellow n' green acalypha and the pink/maroon along with plumbago cascading down a chainlink fence.  I'll try to post a piccie this weekend.

Gorgeous Wal!  My favorite is Chenile plant (A. hispida).  I've got several interspersed throughout the garden.

(SunnyFl @ Oct. 12 2006,06:12)

QUOTE

Does anyone have Acalypha godseffiana - the pink & bronze type?

Ive got a couple of those.

However, I just moved them to another location and cut them back hard (pretty much to the ground).  They were getting too big for the original location and I was tiring of trimming them every week.  

That should answer your question about them being "fast screening"!

Here's my red job, something "Fire".

I also like the Chenile plant, probably my favorite. I grow 5 different Copper leafs here in the nursery. My best seller is the one with a pinkish/ copper color. But I also sell a fair amount of the Dwarf Chenile, used as a ground cover. This group of plants are extreamly fast growing,which is good if your trying to get some height quickly. The downfall is there is a lot of maintance to these.

(Wal @ Oct. 11 2006,21:10)

QUOTE

These are great in the tropical garden. This was transplanted from another spot in the garden about 18 months ago and she's doing great.

Close up

Wal,

    This variety in your photo is very nice to me, but I can't seem to get many landscapers to buy them. Don't know why. ???

Jeff, it is a great cultivar, but I can see it being limited in a landscape design.  It would work as a specimen surrounded by dark green or red foliage.  I don't know how it would look in large masses.

At the Arboretum I would like to have collections of three types of plants:

- Cordylines

- Crotons

- Acalyphas

They all work great as understory masses for varieties of colors.

Jerry

(Jeff Searle @ Oct. 12 2006,21:07)

QUOTE

I also like the Chenile plant, probably my favorite. I grow 5 different Copper leafs here in the nursery. My best seller is the one with a pinkish/ copper color. But I also sell a fair amount of the Dwarf Chenile, used as a ground cover. This group of plants are extreamly fast growing,which is good if your trying to get some height quickly. The downfall is there is a lot of maintance to these.

What sort of maintenance?  Is it just pruning, or do they require a lot of ferts and pesticides?  I had thought they were fairly pest-free.

They look terrific as a border plant - if they're fast, I may use them instead of the arboricola I've got there now, if I can keep them from crowding the cassias.  I really like how the pink/bronze looks paired with the yellow/green type in Wal's picture.

I see them used around here as a specimen plant or sometimes a foundation planting.   There's a large one down the road that I've been ogling too.

(spockvr6 @ Oct. 12 2006,09:59)

QUOTE

They were getting too big for the original location and I was tiring of trimming them every week.  

That should answer your question about them being "fast screening"!

Every week?  Errr.......

On the other hand, I reeeeeeally do need a fast screen.