Alternanthera ficoidea Party Time - Joseph's Coat

The biennially bearing Alternanthera 'Party Time' deserves a prime spot in your compositions with its variegated green foliage with pink. Cultivated as an annual in our climate, this frost-tender plant forms a bushy clump of 30cm in all directions that adds colour to your beds, borders, and other containers and hanging baskets. In full sun, its colours are more intense, but it also tolerates partial shade and can even be grown indoors.

From the Chenopodiaceae family, the same as spinach, the genus Alternanthera is native to tropical and subtropical regions of South and Central America. The selection 'Party Time' is characterized by its highly decorative coloured foliage. Its undulate, ovate, and opposite leaves are green, splashed with pink. Some leaves are completely pink and others green. This herbaceous plant forms a clump of 30cm in all directions. Don't hesitate to pinch the tips of the stems at the start of growth to maintain a compact and dense habit. Insignificant, its flowering occurs between June and October, in the form of axillary and terminal spikes of tiny white flowers.

This decorative foliage plant thrives in full sun, which enhances its colours, or in partial shade. Cultivated as an annual, it easily adds color to a bed or a border. In a suspension, pair it with Lobelia 'Anabel Snow White' with white flowers and Surfinia 'Trailing Big Pink' with pink flowers. In a container or planter, combine it with a vibrant pink verbena like 'Endurascape Magenta' and a Euphorbia 'Diamond Snow' with numerous small white flowers.