A fast-growing, small to medium-sized herbaceous shrub with light green foliage. Each branch tip bears a bunch of small flowers, often for a long period throughout the warmer months. Pentas comes in a variety of colors, including pink, red, mauve and white. It cannot withstand severe frost but will tolerate a fair amount of drought once established. P. lanceolata ‘Candy Stripe’ bears masses of pink, star-shaped flowers with a white center; ‘New Look Pink’ has hairy green foliage with small, star-shaped flowers in summer, while ‘New Look Red’ has shiny green foliage with red flowers, also in summer. ‘Red Star’ bears red flowers in spring and autumn.