Name: Justicia carnea aka Brazilian plume flower.

Type of Plant: This is a shrub in tropical climates but an annual container plant for those who garden in the northeast.

Why I Love/Hate this plant: This plant grows about two feet tall in a container and has huge pink, fringe-petaled flowers in late summer. It’s showy and an easy plant to save indoors in the winter and grow outside over the summer.

A Word to the Wise: Occasionally a garden center will have this plant but it’s also available online from places such as Logees. Know that early in the summer you might want to pull off the older leaves as they turn yellow. Fertilize this plant when you put it outside in late May, and as the first flowers fade cut them off so that you get a second bloom.

This is one of the easiest tropical plants to keep from year to year. I have had no insect problems inside. Just know that you’ll need to pay attention to the watering if you grow these in a sunny window since they dry out a bit faster than many plants.

The Garden Helper website advises people to fertilize this plant in so that it grows a sturdy and healthy roost system. Place pots of this plant inside over the winter.

The flowers on this Brazilian plume flower are the size of a baseball. Large and showy!