This is a pretty easy plant to grow. I’ve had it in part sun – full shade and it happily grows and flowers all summer. Drought tolerant, but like most plants prefers damp, well drained soil. It starts blooming as soon as it leafs out and keeps blooming until well into winter.
It’s rated to 20’F but I find it dies back to the ground if winter temps go below freezing, and returns from the roots mid-spring. The year of the deep freeze it dropped to 9’F. I had given this up for dead and cut back the stems all of which were dead. In early April new leaves appeared.
There is also a yellow flowered variety, old Victorians claim there is also a pink variety
Loved by hummingbirds and bees
Grows rapidly
Grows 4′-6′ tall
Rated for zones 9b-11
Easy to grow from cuttings, plant in spring
( meh, perhaps not so easy, I haven’t had any cuttings take )
If you’re in the Houston area it can often be found at Master Gardener Plant Sales.
This most did not like the deep freeze. I waited a few weeks, cut it back to the ground and it’s the last week of March, no signs of life yet. Sometimes the tropicals that survive don’t reappear until very late into the spring.
Herself's Plants 
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