Search Utilities Plant Database Search Plant Name Detail Search Search by size, origins, details, cultural needs Website Search Search for any word Site Map Retail Locator Plant Listings PLANT TYPE PLANT GEOGRAPHY PLANT INDEX ALL PLANT LIST PLANT IMAGE INDEX PLANT INTROS SPECIALTY CROPS NEW  2023 PLANTS PRIME LIST   for OCTOBER  Weather Station

Products > Plectranthus Mona Lavender ['Plepalila']   Plectranthus Mona Lavender ['Plepalila'] - Lavender Spur Flower     [2nd Image] Habit and Cultural Information Category: Perennial Family: Lamiaceae (Labiatae) (Mints) Origin: South Africa (Africa) Evergreen: Yes Red/Purple Foliage: Yes Flower Color: Lavender Bloomtime: Winter/Spring Synonyms: [P. 'Plepalila'] Parentage: (P. saccatus x P. hilliardiae ssp. australe 'Magwa') Height: 1-2 feet Width: 1-2 feet Exposure: Cool Sun/Light Shade Irrigation (H2O Info): Medium Water Needs Winter Hardiness: 25-30° F Plectranthus Mona Lavender ['Plepalila'] - (Lavender Spur Flower) - A quick-growing, herbaceous perennial shrub reaching up to 2 feet tall, forming a rounded, dense bush. It has dark green, glossy leaves with intensely purple undersides and sprays of lavender colored flowers dashed with purple markings. It flowers best from autumn into winter but can extend into spring. Put in a light shade, part sun or in coastal full sun. In full sun this plant tends to stay smaller and more compact with leaves that have a more intense purple color to their undersides. Plant in a fairly well-drained soil amended with humus and water regularly. To keep compact and to promote better branching, pinch regularly. It looks great in mass plantings, as a small specimen shrub or in a container. Although this plant is considered a tender perennial, it will tolerate a light frost and should prove hardy to 25 to 30 F. The name for the genus comes from the Greek words 'plektron' meaning a "spur" and 'anthos' meaning "flower" in reference to the spur that is found at the base of the corolla tube of the type species Plectranthus fruticosus. The cultivar 'Mona Lavender' is the result of hybridizing Plectranthus saccatus with P. hilliardiae ssp. australe 'Magwa'. The seed parent, Plectranthus saccatus, comes the Eastern Cape to northern KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and has the largest flowers in the genus while P. hilliardiae ssp. australe comes from a restricted distribution along the river gorges from Pt. St. Johns to Fraser Gorge in northern Eastern Cape Province. The cultivar P. hilliardiae ssp. australe 'Magwa' that was used as the pollen parent was a nearly hairless form with a shiny deep green upper surface and dark purple undersides - the great strategy of combining these two plants is evident with the results. The hybridization work was done at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens by Roger Jaques in the late 1990s and the plant was released in 2002 and was introduced in North America with the cultivar name 'Plepalila' by Ball Horticultural Company and holds US patent PP13,858, which has since expired.  The information about Plectranthus Mona Lavender ['Plepalila'] displayed on this page is based on research conducted in our library and from reliable online resources. We also relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we visit, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others, and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing it.     [MORE INFO]