Pentas offer year-round show of color

Flowers can be a challenge in our hot steamy Florida weather. We have already talked about salvia and portulaca in the past two weeks.  Another good option is pentas.

Pentas will last throughout the year. Pentas lanceolata, commonly known as penta or star flower, is a perennial flower that can grow into a 3 to 4 ft. shrub, lasting years in the garden.

Pentas develop clusters of star-shaped flowers, hence its common name. Each flower contains nectar for many insects like butterflies, moths, bees and hummingbirds in their fall migration back to Florida. Because each flower contains nectar, insects and hummingbirgs will spend considerable amounts of time at the flowers, offering great picture-taking opportunities.

My favorite penta, of course, is the red one, the butterfly Penta. It also happens to be the favorite of both butterflies and humming birds. Red is the easiest for them to see while flying, prompting them stop for a little lunch. I guess that’s why it’s my favorite too.

I have had pentas for years at my house until hurricane Wilma tore them out of the ground —  as well as just about everything else. A little depressing until I figured out it was a chance to start the garden over again and maybe make fewer mistakes. Like I always say, we learn more from our mistakes than our successes.  

Anyway, pentas come in many colors, like pink, purple, lavender and also white, which attracts moths at night. White is always a great color in the garden because it can brighten up a shady area. It also makes other colors pop.

Pentas bloom best under a full Florida summer sun, but they'll also flourish and bloom in partial sun. You can use pentas for a border around natural areas, cottage gardens and butterfly gardens. They also make great container plants and will grow in hanging pots.

Care can go from trimming whole pentas that have gotten shrub-like way back like any other shrub in your garden to just dead heading or trimming out damaged stems. Dead heading (cutting off the old flowers) helps the plant produce more and healthier flowers.

Don’t forget to fertilize during growing season to keep your plants blooming and looking good. I use fertilizer that you mix with water. That way it is immediately taken up systemically and the plant reacts quickly.

Pentas have little trouble with pests, which is a bonus if, like me, you are not a fan of chemicals. Occasionally, I will find a horn worm caterpillar, which is the larva of a sphinx moth, on the stripped stem of the penta. It won’t sting, prick or bite; it’s not a Godzilla or Rodan offspring. I wouldn’t kill it, because it can easily be removed by just picking it off.
Don’t forget to help save the monarch butterfly plant milkweed and keep butterflying!

Mike Malloy, known as Naples “butterfly guy” sells host and nectar plants for butterflies as well as tropical plants at the Third St. So. Farmers market every Saturday morning.