By Norman Winter
From Tribune News Service
Recently I stumbled across a plant recipe called “This is the Life.” Not only was it a collection of some of my favorite plants, it was a wake-up call to an old favorite: the Persian Shield. Known botanically as Strobilanthes dyerianus, it is native to Myanmar and has 8-inch-long iridescent leaves in shades of purple, lilac and pink with purple-maroon on the undersides. If those colors aren’t awesome enough, the foliage looks as though it has a light coat of silver electroplated to the leaf.
It has been around for a while, even in Victorian times, but it kind of slips to the back burner, depending on the whims of producers. It has been selected as an Athens Select plant of the University of Georgia and has won Top Performer and as well as Best of the Zoo at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. Thankfully it has secured its position as part of the Proven Accents section of Proven Winners, which is where you’ll also find all the new ornamental sweet potatoes.
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