Family - Plumbaginaceae
Common names for this plant include Cape leadwort, Blue
plumbago and Cape plumbago. This evergreen shrub is native to south Africa and
flowers year-round in South Florida, producing 6 inch wide terminal clusters of blue tubular
flowers from the current seasons growth.
(There is also a white flowered variety - P. auriculata var. alba.)
Leaves are light green, 2 inches or less in length and
oblong in shape with undulate (wavy) margins. Habit of growth is as a spreading,
mound forming shrub with multiple stems.
Although Plumbago can attain heights to 10 feet with an
equal spread it is more often kept pruned to a more compact form.
Culture - Grows in zones 9, 10 & 11, frost will kill it back to ground level but
it should come back in the spring. For best flowering plant in full sun,
Plumbago can take light or partial shade. Soil should be light, well drained and
slightly acidic. Propagation is by semi-hard cuttings, seed or division.
A very common landscape plant, Plumbago can be used in hedges, borders, mass
plantings or containers. More or less pest free, Plumbago is occasionally
attacked by scale & mites and is moderately drought tolerant once established.
Several kinds of butterflies use Plumbago as a nectar source and/or larval host
plant.
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