What Is the Difference Between Mexican Heather & False Heather Plants?
The plant Cuphea hyssopifolia goes by multiple common names, including false heather, Mexican heather and false Mexican heather. There is also at least one cultivar identified by the name 'Mexican Heather.' This confusion points out the problem with common names, which make it difficult for people know exactly which plant is being discussed. Less confusing are the differences between false heather and “true” heather. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
-
True Heather
-
Associated with the harsh, lonely moors of the British Isles where few plants can survive, true heather requires very little care, but doesn’t tolerate hot summers. Very tough stuff, heather was traditionally used to provide stems for brooms and stuffing for mattresses; it was even brewed into ale. Heather flowers are very small, and colors include purple, lavender, pink, white, magenta and red. Under cultivation these very small shrubs prefer slightly acidic soils and cool, moist climates.
False Heather
-
False, or Mexican, heather thrives in the heat. Upright and shrubby but growing to a maximum height of 18 to 24 inches, false heather resembles true heather from a distance. It produces flat sprays of leaves that are soft and finely divided, almost like fern fronds, though its small oblong leaves resemble those of Scotch heather, or Calluna vulgaris. False heather, a distant cousin of crape myrtle, blooms abundantly until frost--which makes it an ever-blooming plant in very mild climates. Depending on the variety, flowers are white, pink, purple or red. A good butterfly plant, false heather is deer resistant, according to Texas A&M.
-
Varieties
-
The cultivar 'Mexican Heather White,' with white flowers, does particularly well in Florida. ‘Allyson’ doesn’t need to be pinched back because it has a naturally dense, compact form, larger leaves and abundant flowers. ‘Compacta,’ with rose-purple blooms, is also compact and good as a ground cover, growing just 12 inches tall yet 24 inches wide. ‘Monga’ has snow-white flowers and hugs the ground, standing 8 inches tall and spreading 18 inches.
Cultivation
-
Useful as a small landscape shrub or bedding plant in mass plantings, containers and baskets/ but also as ground cover and edging, false heather grows in bright light to partial shade. You’ll get more flowers in brighter light, but vegetation will suffer in too much sun. If you grow it as a houseplant, provide bright light but keep it out of direct sunlight. Pinching will produce bushier plants. Mexican or false heather tolerates a variety of soils but prefers moist conditions. To avoid fungal root rots, well-drained soil is essential. Plants have a spreading habit, and large clumps may be divided. Also propagate by tip cuttings or allow plants to self-sow in mild climates.
North vs. South
-
Native to Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, false heather was originally introduced to the U.S. as a seed-oil-producing plant. In mild weather areas in the South and West it is grown as a perennial, but in colder climates it’s an annual that dies with the arrival of frost. One cold-winter option is growing it in a container then bringing it indoors as a houseplant before temperatures drop.
-
