Pronounciation: An-ge-LON-e-a an-gus-ti-FOL-e-a

Hardiness zones
Sunset All (depending on use), perennial in zones 12-24, warm season annual elsewhere
USDA All (depending on use), can be a perennial in zones 9-11, warm season annual elsewhere.

Landscape Use: Warm-season bedding plant for color accent, mass border planting, or container plant.

Form & Character: Upright and spreading, regal, formal, delicate, lovely.

Growth Habit: Evergreen, herbaceous annual, slow to moderate growth, typically upright to spreading with age. Eventual height is less than 18 inches.

Foliage/Texture: Sessile, lanceolate, deep green, glaborous small leaves to 1-inch long, opposite, margins entire; medium fine texture

Flowers & Fruits: Many small axillary flowers ranging in color from white, red, through deep plum and purple; fruits inconspicuous.

Seasonal Color: Freely blooms the entire warm season in Phoenix from April to October.

Temperature: Frost and freeze intolerant, but quite heat loving.

Light: Full to partial sun.

Soil: Tolerant of slight soil alkalinity. In Phoenix, angelonia does best when grown in an organically-amended garden soil.

Watering: Regular summer irrigations in desert areas are imperative for survival.

Pruning: Carefree, none necessary.

Propagation: Though seed and cutting propagation are possible, it is best to purchase angelonia as transplants in small 4-inch containers or nursery 'six packs' from retail plant nurseries.

Disease and Pests: None

Additional comments: Angelonia is a great, small herbaceous annual for use in the hottest Phoenix summer gardens. There are a number of named cultivars having different flower colors. Most cultivars are patented and are thus not legally propagated except by the persons holding the patent. Patented cultivars include 'White Imperial' and 'White Mist' (both with white flowers), 'Dark Pink' (solid pink flowers), 'Purple' (purple flowers), and 'Deep Plum' (deep wine red flowers). Angelonia deserves much more attention than it has received to this point as a warm season bedding plant for hot Phoenix mesic gardens. It is good for cut flower arrangements too.

Minor taxonomic factoid: There are roughly 30 species of Angelonia native to the tropical and subtropical western hemisphere.