Some plants are refinements of existing species. Others are things discovered in the wild by plant hunters, Indiana Jones style. Then there are some created by crazy plantsmen by crossing species nobody imagined were compatible. The resulting plant in this case has dark green basal leaves and unique flowers that look like they walked off the set of a science fiction movie.
We recently went to a seminar about some new plants that are being introduced in California. Most of them were new varieties of more or less familiar species. Except one: Digiplexis ‘Illumination Flame’. There was only one display plant at the seminar, and they won’t be in mass production in Sacramento for probably a year. This is not the case in Southern California, where they’re selling the things at Home Depot!
Digiplexis is a crazy hybrid of two not that similar species that don’t grow anywhere near each other. One parent species is a biennial; the other, a perennial. So, what does that mean? Will the plant live two years, five years, longer than your pet tortoise that’s been in the family for generations? At this point, the hybrid is so new that nobody seems to know the answer.
The flowers resemble foxgloves, only more yellow, kind of cream, a bit blush, a bit flame. Not the easiest thing to describe. The flowers are sterile – they don’t set seeds – so there’s little risk of it becoming a monster alien invasive species.
The plant should get about four feet tall, and should rebloom over a long season.
Water use looks to be average, and frost hardiness is another unknown – although theoretically it should grow in Sacramento.
We’re trying it in the LA area, where temperatures are warmer in winter and cooler in summer. It’s in an eclectic space in the garden, with Geranium maderense, tall aloe, agaves and succulents of varying sizes, shapes and colors.
Since it’s in partial shade, we don’t think it will take too much water, assuming it will thrive in the somewhat alkaline clay soil native to the garden..
All parts of the plant are toxic, so be careful if you want to try this Frankenplant in your garden.
Update
The plants did well enough the first year, producing lots of flowers. They seemed to prefer cooler weather, and looked a bit ratty when things got warm (for LA, with temperatures in the high 80’s and 90’s F)
The second year they were tired, struggling to produce a few flowers.
By the third year, they were gone.
Since then, I don’t see them that often in nurseries. When I find them in a nursery, it’s more likely to be along the coast in a climate like San Francisco.