you are willing to give up on the season.. the third week of may???

heck.. half of my stuff just broke dormancy last week ... in z5 MI ... and i darent plant out the annuals yet ...

if you decide to search online.. use the latin name: Strobilanthes dyerianus

you could probably have them by this time next week ...

crikey...

Did you know you can over winter them inside? If you find some, then stick a couple in pots at the end of the season and bring them inside. You can take cutting from them in mid February when they start growing again, and have as many new ones as you want, plus the big ones that you over wintered.

Privately owned garden centers are often amenable to requests from customers. Ask to speak to the owner or manager and put in a request for your Persian Shield. Tell him or her that it's very popular wherever people are able to find it. It's an attention grabber when used right.

Be sure to learn about the many attributes of this plant. It really is a very versatile, beautiful plant.

Take a picture of it with you.

Did you try your local nursery? Both the ones I frequent for annuals had them last week.

Another bonus from overwintering is getting to see them bloom. I don't know whether the cooler temperatures on my mom's four season room or the different daylight schedule does it, but her Persian Shield bloomed beautifully two years running. I don't remember how far into the cold season it bloomed, but it was a wonderful surprise.

Martha

What do the blooms look like? I've never seen them.

The blooms are roundish and tubular and a delicate pale blue. The color surprised me. I guess I was expecting white or purple or even greenish. They blossom in groups of 5 or 6 in a cluster, if I'm remembering correctly. You can probably google an image--and likely prove how bad my memory is.

Martha

Yes, this plant is a winter bloomer. Never researched why, also assuming day length was the trigger. Here's some blooms on an outside plant from 1-27-13. Usually knocked to the ground by cold here, at the edge of hardiness for this plant, but that winter was so mild that this plant in a sheltered corner stayed 'up.'