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Melianthus major (Honey Bush) - A fast-growing evergreen open shrub can grow up to 12 feet tall or more and spread rapidly by sucker roots. The one foot long bluish-green leaves have 10-15 serrated leaflets and when bruised produce a strong salty peanut butter-like odor. Spikes of dark, maroon-colored flowers are displayed on stalks above the foliage from winter through spring followed by papery seed pods. These flowers are variously described as ill or pleasingly honey scented, but we find the flowers only slightly fragrant (not bad or good) and hard to even discern over the scent of the foliage once it is brushed up against.
Plant in full sun to part shade and water occasionally. It can rejuvenate if foliage is frozen, tolerating temperatures down to about 16 °F and the rootstock is reported as hardy to as low as 5° F if the plant is mulched. A striking plant with its decorative blue-green leaves and rusty-red flower heads. Looks best if pruned hard and is often treated more like a perennial than a shrub. It does suffer occasionally from giant whitefly infestations in shaded gardens so keep any eye on this and wash off foliage as necessary. Honey Bush is considered quite poisonous, but poisonous plant references also note that domestic animals will not eat these offensively scented plants unless there is no other food available. For more information on the topic of it being poisonous see our Melianthus Information Page.
Melianthus major grows naturally on sandstone slopes in the Western, Eastern and Northern Cape Provinces of South Africa. The name for the genus comes from the Greek words 'meli' meaning "honey" and 'anthos' meaning "flower" in reference to the nectar-rich flowers and the specific epithet means "large".
The information displayed on this page about Melianthus major is based on the research we conducted about it in our nursery horticultural library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include some of our own observations made about this plant as it grows in the nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we have received from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information that will aid others to better grow it.
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