Justicia Carnea

Grow pineapples in Scotland? I don’t know if they ever did but the possibility popped up when I read of Scottish horticulturalist Sir James Justice. He was a noted figure in Scottish gardening in the early eighteenth century. He authored successful books on the topic, and when explorers began returning with newly discovered plants, he had to have them. An obsessive gardener, he spent so much money on these new species, and on botanical experiments, that he almost went broke.

One of his experiments was rumoured to be a pineapple stove, a means of heating the soil to grow pineapples in a cold climate. His idea didn’t progress, but in the late nineteenth century pineapples were actually grown in cold frames on heated soil.

 Unfortunately, Sir James put his pastime and his profession before his family which contributed to the failure of his marriage. He was also expelled from the Fellowship of the Royal Society after sinking too much of their money into greenhouses and soil mixtures.

 And yet, though not a household name, he lives on in the world of botany. He was honoured when a complete genus of plants was named Justicia, and there are over seventy species in the Justicia genus, so well done, Jim.

 These plants are native to tropical and warm temperate zones around the world,including Brazil, where they grow in the Mata Atlântica, the Atlantic Forest ecoregion. Although termed an eco region, 90% of the original area has sadly been deforested.

 It’s where Justicia carnea, the plant now growing in the corner of my garden originated, except it came from a local garden centre. This plant is an evergreen shrub with large, dark green leaves and gorgeous plumed flowers. It’s unlikely to grow to its maximum height of five feet (1.5 metres) in my garden. It’s only a couple of feet high, and that’s because I’ve dug it out and stored it each fall. I guess I can say I’m endeavoring to save an endangered species. It is a perennial in Brazil, and must be a beautiful sight in the wild, or cultivated in someone’s front yard in Rio.

 This is the third summer in my garden and it’s near the top of my everchanging favourite plants list. The leaves drop when I store it in a dormant state, but it would retain them like other tropical plants if it were in a conservatory — Justicia carnea is sometimes sold as a decorative house plant.

 

It’s those distinctive blooms that make it a hit. They’re hand sized — okay, small hands. The petals are tubular and as the flower opens further, it shows why it has the common name Brazilian Plume, or flamingo flower. I’d call it rose pink, but then shades of pink can be subjective. I guess you don’t need me to point out that carnea, the species name is from Latin for flesh coloured.

There is a pure white variety named Alba, which I’ve also grown. It didn’t overwinter successfully, probably because it wasn’t quite mature enough. I have more success with shrubby plants when they’ve developed woody stems.

Regardless, my current Justicia is a beauty, and I’ve planted it in the perfect place because it’s grown so well this year. It’s in my Brazilian rainforest, that is, a corner of my shady side yard where the soil is rich with organic matter and moist like a damp sponge.

Although old Jim had this genus named after him, he never did travel to the rain forests of Brazil. I’m not sure he ever left Scotland, so perhaps he was honoured for his work on those mysterious pineapple stoves.