Iresine Seeds - Purple Lady

Growing Purple Lady Iresine Garden Seeds

Purple Lady seeds are fast, easy to grow and most commonly sown directly outdoors, but for earliest blooms, start iresine seeds indoors 8 – 10 weeks before last frost. Keep seeds wet and dark until germination, which iresine seeds are known to take 7 – 21 days. Harden off seedlings if transplanting outside and plant in south end of the garden. Plant 2 – 3 Purple Lady iresine seeds ¼” deep and 36 – 48” apart in organically rich, evenly moist, and well-drained soil in partial sun to partial shade. Purple Lady iresine will not thrive in poorly ventilated gardens as it is susceptible to molds and both powdery and downy mildew. Iresine has no serious pests but monitor regularly for aphids and spider mites. Plants will shoot 6” white blooms in the summer, however, most gardeners prefer to pinch the shoots to focus energies on the vibrant leaves instead. Purple Lady is a dwarfed variety and ought to be planted on the southern end of the garden to keep from being cast in shadow all season long. Purple Lady iresine seeds mature in 77 – 84 days as a 6 – 8” tall dwarfed ground cover with a 36 – 48” spread of dense purple and red “bloodleaf”.

Iresine herbstii, or otherwise best known as Purple Lady or Herbst’s Bloodleaf, is one of the most prominent and easily recognizable ground covers in the world. There are a variety of similarly dark leafy grows that can often be substituted with Purple Lady iresine including alternanthera, dichondra, and plectranthus.