The violet-blue color of achemines used to be relegated, at least in my mind, to hanging baskets and indoor light gardens. But several years ago, a member of the Tyler Men's Garden Club passed along to me a handful 
of really small, dried coral-colored rhizomes and said for me to give them a try. They have been a favorite in my garden ever since. Because I had more than I needed for containers, I thought I would use them as a tender tropical border plant by my driveway. I was delighted with their abundant flowering, almost right up to frost, and was surprised the following year when that began popping out new foliage in May.
Now, they have spread to several unexpected spots in the garden, but deliberate design and also probably by movement of soil. The tiny, fragile dried rhizomes break up very easily, and apparently most will survive, root and grow when warm summer weather arrives. 
Not all achimenes varieties are hardy, but these pass along plants have come back year after year, thriving in both shade and suprisingly just as well in sunny exposures if provided some afternoon shade and ample soil moisture. They may not be hardy much further north than zone 7, but this variety is thriving in our East Texas gardens.
