A very useful autumn flowering plant, for some reason usually classified as a shrub when in fact it dies down completely in winter. Photos rarely do it justice. The flowers are a lovely fresh rosy mauve and contrast nicely with the soft green leaves, silvery underneath. The growth habit troubles some gardeners because it trails over sideways as the stems lengthen and the flowers develop and some people find this too untidy to tolerate and try to strap it to a stick or frame. In fact, for those of us of a less neat-and-tidy disposition it is an ideal plant for decorating the gaps and old foliage of other plants that finished earlier in the season.