Cigar Plant - Cuphea Ignea

I finally have a name to the plant!  I didn't plant this.  I have no idea how it got into my front weed garden, but it came back year after year.  Heck, I even pulled it up once, because it got too big and my husband didn't like the sticky flowers.  (He would walk by the plant and have the flowers stuck to his pants, hehe)

Even after cutting one side out, the roots migrated to another spot!  It still came back.  Persistant?  Most definitely.

So, when Kim and I went through a big renovation on the large section of the front garden, I said, "Don't touch this one."  It's doing great and I have a name for it, finally!  Cigar.

These plants are "subshrubs" that grow to about 3 feet in height.  I know for a fact that hummingbirds love this plant.  When the plant was really huge years ago, that's when I had hummingbirds.  The birds even suffered flying through the tall weeds to get to the Cigar plant!

The Cigar plant is native to Mexico, prefers bright sun but tolerates some shade (mine grew itself in a sunny part of the large section of the garden).  They like moisture but endure short dry spells.  And yes, they are perennial :)

Believe me when I say that it requires no attention.  Lack of attention.  Ignore it.  It will come back.  I don't know how it came to my garden, no clue, but I'm thrilled that it's still here!

I don't smoke, but I love this cigar!