Description:
About ten species of Holmskioldia
are native to Africa and Asia.
The Chinese hat plant is a large shrub with yellow, orange, or red flowers. The
shrub is evergreen in the tropics. The flowers are distinctive with a round
cup-like bract at the base of a tubular flower. After the flowers fall, the
bract (the “Chinese hat”) remains. It is native to the Himalayas
in and around India.
Hummingbirds visit the flowers.
Care Instructions:
Light: full sun to part shade
Water: somewhat drought tolerant
Soil: no special requirements
This tropical plant was a surprise. Planted as an annual, it died to the ground and resprouted the following spring. It has survived temperatures in the mid-20’s F. Probably, it is best planted south of the St. Johns River in a protected spot.
