General Culture:

Winter hardy to USDA Zones 9-11. In St. Louis, it is grown as a bedding or container annual. Prefers organically rich, moist, fertile soils with good drainage. Some drought tolerance. Good tolerance for summer heat and humidity. Plants in the Serena series are seed-grown and may be started indoors about 10-12 weeks before last spring frost date. Plants may also be purchased in spring from local nurseries. Deadheading is not required.

Noteworthy Characteristics:

Native to Mexico and the West Indies, Angelonia angustifolia (see B444 herein) is an upright, glabrous, somewhat bushy, tropical perennial that is noted for its long summer bloom of small snap-dragon like flowers. Plants typically grow 12-18” tall on stems clad with narrow, oblong to lanceolate, green leaves (to 3” long) with toothed margins. Two-lipped, bluish-purple flowers (each to 3/4” across) bloom from spring to early fall in narrow terminal spikes (to 8” long). Serena Series cultivars are new introductions that are particularly noteworthy because they may be grown from seed. ‘Serena Lavender’, ‘Serena Lavender Pink’, ‘Serena White’ and ‘Serena Purple’ feature flowers of the color described by the cultivar name. SERENA MIXTURE is, as the name suggests, a seed mixture of the four different Serena cultivars. Serena Series plants are slightly more compact than species plants, typically growing to 10-14” tall. Serena flowers have an impressive spring to early fall bloom period.