Great feedback. Thank you. They do seem to be hardier than they might appear.

It was planted earlier in the year and it croaked during our last mild Winter.

it croaked during our last mild Winter.

There is often no rhyme or reason to an individual plant's survival is there?

As usual, I suspect too much rain.

UPDATE:

I am more and more impressed with this plant. After coming back reliably for now 3 seasons straight I am confident it is here for the long haul (and with that in mind I added a couple more of these plants to the garden, placing them further away from the shelter of the house, just to see if they can handle it).

Anyways the most established one, after putting on a good show in July is now doing a second but still worthwhile rebloom.

You guys and gals further south have outstanding specimens which has always impressed me.

Well, I have encountered it in the wild here...even there it's not a HUGE plant. I miss having one...but haven't coughed up the dollars for a replacement yet.

Mine did very well this year - the three clumps expanded nicely and bloomed beautifully.

UPDATE 2017:

Still love this plant.

I have two established ones that (cross my fingers) I have moved to a sunnier location AND I have added two more.

Here is our largest plant:

How about posting pictures of your spigelia in flower in 2017

I lost 2 of 3 of mine over winter - overwintered in pots in the barn (taken from other house). Fortunately, a local nursery had a good supply of them at a reasonable price, so I bought 9 (!) more plants. Hopefully they will adapt well to conditions at this house.

I am assuming you will/have plant the *9* in the ground at your new place? Have you distributed them in various groups out and about?

They need too much water and rich ground to grow where I am. I don't think they like my brand of very young calcium limestone. I only see them in native nurseries to the east of here....otherside of the Balcone's Fault line.

I actually ordered one this spring, but then the nursery ended up canceling my order when their crop didn't come through as expected. I will try again next year. I don't think that this is a plant I would want to try planting in fall.

Rouge - Yes, I'm going to plant different groupings on three different sides of the house. The "firecracker" coloring looks terrific with the color of my house.

I reacquired one last year, and it bloomed both years for me...but I want a bulkier one like rouge_21, which I'll probably have in 2 or 3 more years (lol). Nice one.

Having read that it performs better (given water) in near full sun, that's what I did....and so far (one year) so good.

...friend of mine has a Spigelia (with the yellow tops) growing in quite dry soil.

It is now my experience that these plants can be successful in drier conditions than I had previously thought.

And it is nice to see a small rebloom this time of year,

I would tend to agree, I've seen it in the woods (not too far from water, but definitely not where it would get constant root moisture), and those trees are thirsty...it would definitely experience summer dryness.

And I had a rebloom about a month ago on my sunny one (two or three stalks rebloomed), minor but as you say, welcome.

Mine are thriving under a large honey locust, so pretty dry and definitely well drained, part shade. I believe I got them (actually, probably just one that has spread) from Michigan Bulb. I am often surprised at not-run-of-the-mill plants that pop up at that family of mail-order sites.

They won't grow in my concept of dry

rouge, I've noticed you reposting updates on plants a few years after a thread originates. It is certainly appreciated, so thank you VERY much!

They won't grow in my concept of dry

I have no doubt.

I was only speaking from my experience in my zone 5/6 in Ontario Canada.

You are welcome 'deanna'. I always appreciate it when other members post updates of their plants...kind of like a long term test drive of a car.

I have few garden plant regrets but this is one that I wish I had added when I first heard about it. Though we are still listed as Z4 there are several Z5 plants surviving and growing well in my gardens. This is such a beautiful plant.

This is such a beautiful plant.

The bloom is like no other plant I know...so cool.

I'd mistakenly thought my Spigelia had died--it's just a very late bloomer in my garden and resides behind a large Baptisia 'Twilite Prairieblues'---it just finished blooming a couple of weeks ago. Has anyone tried saving seed?

Mine seeds fairly enthusiastically and I've given away a lot of seedlings. I put one in a very dry area, and though it's growing more slowly, it seems completely happy. So glad more and more people are enjoying this plant.

'lacey', I haven't yet seen evidence of seeding. I look forward to it.

I've got about 10 or 12 of these still to plant - I bought them at the local nursery this spring, only 1 of the 3 I took from other house survived the winter. I really need to get these in the ground ASAP, as they had a poor survival rate living in pots last winter...

As a broad rule, things generally do much better in the ground :)

Actually, I have had an overwhelmingly high success rate overwintering plants in pots over the many years I've been gardening - it's the occasional oddball that doesn't survive.

UPDATE 2018:

A very cold winter and extra tricky April but our two established Spigelia have come back just fine however two new ones planted last season did not make it.

I love this plant but it is proving very difficult to locate on the coast opposite of its nativity!! And I really dislike mail order :-))

One more or less local specialty/rare plants nursery is sold out for the season. And has been since late winter. My other go-to source - a large wholesale perennial grower - is not offering it this season but does have a bunch of stock plants they use for propagation. After a lot of wheedling and asking nicely, they agreed to part with ONE of their stock plants and sent it along with their weekly delivery to my local nursery. But someone else snagged it before it could be put aside for me and they won't send another :-(

So I guess there will be no Spigelia in my garden until at least next season...........I am not a happy camper!!

That sucks that someone else grabbed it....

My other go-to source - a large wholesale perennial grower - is not offering it this season but does have a bunch of stock plants they use for propagation. After a lot of wheedling and asking nicely, they agreed to part with ONE of their stock plants

UPDATE 2019:

Well it looks like to me that with Proven Winners getting in on the act this plant should be more readily available in the future.

LITTLE REDHEAD from PW

I currently have it on order with my local nursery but no dice yet :-( And my local speciality/rare plant nursery (a Heronswood replacement) is of course out for the season!!

Proven Winners is just a plant marketing company and not all that popular in this area with independent retail nurseries where there are scores of other and less expensive wholesale growers available to choose from.

I felt kinda sad seeing this old thread. Had I posted earlier the story would still be the same: I've planted several at different times and not a one came through a winter.

I felt kinda sad seeing this old thread.

Sorry Marie!

I was thinking it was some good news as it will most likely mean that the plant will be more widely available for sale. I wanted to buy a couple of the plants right now and I have no source and it isnt even July yet!

I live for the day......

I give away starts of mine every year. as it seeds about though not aggressively. And mine is a rather unusual strain; where the yellow "stars" are in most Spigelias, mine are chartreuse.

Tried and failed 3x. It does a disappearing act in my garden. Am envious of those folks who grow it successfully.

Interestingly, the ones I have on the west side of the house (so late afternoon/early evening hot sun) are doing great while the ones on the east side of the house are really struggling -- I finally saw signs of life from two of the three (or four?) I had planted over there but they're not even leafed out yet. I think the difference is the soil moisture. The ones that are struggling are in soil is near a downspout -- the soil isn't overly soggy, but it's definitely on the moist side. The ones on the west side are in just average soil -- not too dry, not too moist. So, yea -- moving the struggling spigelias is on my to-do list.

Rouge, doesn’t Lost Horizons have it? I just moved a rose that was always trying to draw blood, to the front, so I have a spot for it. I saw it at the new RBG rock garden and was sold on it.

Well, I started this thread, and my Spigelia is growing in moist but well drained soil partially under the skirts of an Itea (which always needs beating back) and a fair amount of sun.

doesn’t Lost Horizons have it?

It is no longer listed in this years Perennial Catalogue.

When they had it, I didn’t have a decent spot for it. Now that I have a good spot, they don’t have it. Grrr.

Here is one of our two as of this morning:

What a wonderful plant! I adore red and would get it in a heartbeat even though I am on the edge of it's hardiness zone like NHBabs.

Babs did you end up getting one? If so would you give your experience with it.

Mine are getting ready to bloom - anxiously awaiting! I did move the other ones that were struggling, hopefully they'll take off in their home.

Pictures, pictures mxk3 !

Beautiful, Rouge, that is an impressive clump! Whenever I run into it, I will snap it up!

A bit of a rebloom these days: