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Navarre Garden Club, Flower of the Month for

OCTOBER 2004

Presented by Judith Begue

MEXICALI ROSE

CASHMERE BOUQUET

BOTANICAL NAME - CLERODENDRUM BUNGEI

Herbaceous perennial
3-5 feet tall
Hardiness Zones 7-10
Origin: China; naturalized in Mexico and southern United States
Light: shade to partial sun
Soil: moist, rich, and well drained
Growth rate: fast

CAN BE INVASIVE SPREADER

Can be found growing in old gardens in South
Some think plant does not smell nice (I have not found this to be true)
Only when the plant is bruised do some people fine an unpleasant odor
Few people cultivate this plant
Will pop up wherever its rambling roots take it
Good ornamental value particularly for gardens in the shade
Gigantic deep green heart-shaped leaves, semiwoody stems
Summerlong flowers that resemble a hydrangea bloom
The common name of cashmere bouquet is really a reference to the wool of a Kashmir goat and not the bath powder Cashmere Bouquet

I think Mexicali Rose is another choice for Southern gardens but watch where you plant them.

I found mine five years ago growing in the compost pile by the side of the Panhandle Butterfly House. I pulled it up, bare root and took it home and put it in a one gallon pot. Many of the Navarre Garden Club members may remember the plant growing there by the potting area. The next year I planted it in one of my gardens and it has done very well. It pops up as an unexpected "treat" along with my many other flowering plants. It has traveled into my lawn and I dig them out to share with friends. But that's what friends are for! Just be careful where you plant yours.