purple Chinese houses
Collinsia heterophylla
USDA zones2 to 11
SunHandles partial sun to partial shade
WaterHandles moderate to moist soil
Size12 to 24 inches tall12 to 24 inches wide
- Habit
- Herb
- Bloom season
- Spring, summer, winter
- Bloom color
- White , pink , purple
- Soil types
- Loam
- Soil pH
- Acid, alkaline, neutral
Garden uses
Attracts
Notes
Purple Chinese houses (Collinsia heterophylla) is an annual for borders, low maintenance beds, and woodland gardens. This plant likes part sun or part shade and average to moist, loamy soil. Its white, rose, and purple flowers grow in tiers of whorls near the top of 2 foot stalks. The tiers look like little pagodas. You can prolong the bloom by removing withering flowers before fruit sets. If you let it seed, it will form permanent colonies.
Pairs well with American maidenhair fern, Crested wood fern, and Spring Beauty Siberian squill.
Native range
CA, IL, and KY.