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Also known as Taiwan-ensis, the Dwarf Ixora are fabulous shrubs.

This large-leaved plant is loved by many because it produces clusters of star-shaped flowers all year round. Each cluster is consists of flowers that comes in red, yellow, pink, or orange color. Clusters of these charming blooms are scattered randomly throughout the whole plant and are usually seen at the tip of the upright stems of the plant.

Dwarf Ixora are popularly used as low hedges because of their shrub form and compact appearance. They look attractive when they bloom profusely. However, after blooming, it will take some time for Dwarf Ixora to re-bloom.

Reverse the old saying “you can’t see the forest for the trees,” and you’ll have one that applies to hedges: “you can’t see the plants for the hedge.” How often do you really see the individual plants, instead of the overall symmetry of the planting?

Long before ixora became house plant, I saw it used as a formal hedge in southern Florida. I remarked to a friend who was with me that I thought it would make a beautiful plant for my indoor garden up north, and she looked at me obliquely, wondering whether I was joking or had had too much sun!

Ixora Shrub and Houseplant

Ixora (pronounced ix-OR-a) is a shrubby evergreen with glossy-green, opposite leaves. As you might expect from its use as hedge material, it is amenable to being cut back severely or shaped whenever necessary. Never allow ixora to become root-bound in a pot smaller than the ultimate size you want it in, and pot large plants firmly in coarse, turfy material.

In theory, established plants will have three crops of flowers a year; in practice, the crops are so long-lasting, and the rest-period so brief, the plants are almost constantly in bloom, and they begin flowering when very small. The most commonly seen type has – scarlet flowers, and is known as Flame-of-the-Woods; my plant is yellow-flowered, and there are other forms with blossoms in pure white and various shades of pink, orange, and red. The white-flowered sorts are often fragrant. The blossoms are extremely showy, having long, slender-tubed corollas with four (sometimes five) wide-spread lobes, and borne in dense corymbs or heads.

Ixora needs ample water and regular liquid feedings when in active growth. After flowering, watering may be reduced slightly. Either sun or partial shade agrees with this plant, and mine hasn’t seemed particular about the temperature, although 65 to 70 degrees is suggested for them. My plant has resisted our newest indoor pest, thrips, and seems equally resistant to scale and white flies, but if these insects should appear, standard remedies may be used – il.

by K. Walker