Mimulus hybridus Mystic Mixed

Mimulus x hybridus Mystic Mixed F1 Hybrid is a selection that offers a wide range of colours, from white to yellow, and vibrant orange to deep red. Some flowers have marbled throats, while others are monochrome. Cultivated as an annual, they make excellent ground cover plants, and their unique flowering can be admired from June to September.

Mimulus is a short-lived perennial cultivated as an annual in our latitudes. Also known as Monkey Flower or Musk Flower due to the musky scent of certain varieties, it belongs to the Phrymaceae family and is native to Mexico. This beautiful and floriferous ground-covering plant reaches a height and width of 25cm (10in).

Its foliage is dark green to grey-green. The leaves are ovate with slightly indented edges. The mimulus flower has five fused petals, enclosed in a long calyx forming a trumpet with two lips resembling a smiling face sticking out its tongue. Some people see the figure of a monkey in it and commonly refer to the plant as 'Monkey Flower'. The Mystic Mixed blend offers a wide range of colours: white, yellow, vibrant orange, deep red and burgundy, as well as bicolours. Some flowers have marbled throats, while others are monochrome. They have a diameter of 5cm (2in).

Mimulus prefers light shade as well as moist, humus-rich soil. Avoid placing it in direct sunlight, as it cannot tolerate it. However, reserve a prominent place for it in border plantings alongside Mimulus luteus in an exotic garden. Alternatively, plant it along a pond, where it can find the moisture it needs. It is not very hardy and weakens below -5°C (23°F). To keep it for several summers, plant it comfortably in pots where it can thrive and spend the winter in warmth.

Mimulus plants are known to absorb sodium chloride from the soil, storing and concentrating it in their leaves and stems, so much so that Native Americans used them as a substitute for salt in their meals. The entire plant is edible and retains its salty taste even when cooked. The foliage was also used as a poultice to soothe the pain of minor burns.