Botanical Name: Physotegia virginiana 'Miss Manners'
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Common Name: Miss Manners Obedient Plant  
Plant photo of: Physotegia virginiana 'Miss Manners'
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Water Saving Tip:

Replace turf with groundcovers, trees, and shrubs. If you have areas where no one uses the grass, patches that do not grow well, or a turf area too small to water without runoff, consider replacing the turf with water-efficient landscaping.

  • Anatomy

  • Culture

  • Design

Plant Type

Perennial

 

Height Range

1-3'

 

Flower Color

White

 

Flower Season

Summer

 

Leaf Color

Green

 

Bark Color

n/a

 

Fruit Color

n/a

 

Fruit Season

n/a

Sun

Full, Half

 

Water

Medium, High

 

Growth Rate

Fast

 

Soil Type

Clay, Loam

 

Soil Condition

Average, Rich, Well-drained, Moist

 

Soil pH

Neutral

 

Adverse Factors

n/a

Design Styles

English Cottage, Formal, Meadow, Ranch

 

Accenting Features

Showy Flowers

 

Seasonal Interest

Summer

 

Location Uses

Perennial Border, Shrub Border, Raised Planter, Walls / Fences

 

Special Uses

Cut Flowers, Mass Planting

 

Attracts Wildlife

Hummingbirds, Butterflies

Information by: Stephanie Duer
Photographer:

  • Description

  • Notes

'Miss Manner's is a Physotegia cultivar that is less spreading, more upright, a bit shorter (24 to 30 inches tall), and pure white. Tubular flowers form clusters at the stem tips from June through August and even into September. Leaves are green, lance-shaped, and toothed. It is better suited to perennial borders and smaller areas than the species.
Grow in amended soils that are medium to moist, though well drained, and in full sun (they will tolerate dappled shade but it may reduce the blooming period and volume, and cause it to require staking). Will grow in clay soils. Pinching back the plant at the tips will reduce the height and the likelihood of floppiness without sacrificing blooms. It is rhizomous and spreads; reducing water will slow the spreading, but its best to just plan for the invasion... Commonly called obedient plants because each individual flower will, upon being pushed in any one direction, temporarily remain in the new position as if it were hinged. Sometimes also commonly called false dragonhead because the flowers are suggestive of those of dragonhead (Dracocephalum).