Hemiboea cavaleriei

Hemiboea cavaleriei is a rarely cultivated, winter hardy, gesneriad species that forms a spreading mass of 30" tall upright stems. Our three year old clump has already spread to form a 7' wide mass, so don't put this where it can run over smaller plants. For us, the clusters of terminal flowers start in early October and continue until frost, during which time our native bees have found them forage worthy. In China and neighboring Vietnam, it grows in calcareous mountain forests from 1,500-5,000' elevation. So far, our plants have been fine after a winter low temperature of 11 degrees F in the ground.