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Plectranthus ciliatus 'Zulu Wonder' - A low growing sub-shrub groundcover to 12 to 18 inches tall by 2 to 3 feet wide with lush green heavily textured foliage that has attractive reddish-purple undersides. In mid-summer and fall appear the lavender-purple flowers, often in abundance, held on an 8-inch-tall reddish branching inflorescence.
Plant in part sun to light shade and irrigate occasionally. Can tolerate light frosts and is noted as heat tolerant. This is a very nice plant for use as a groundcover, a border planting or a potted specimen or in a hanging basket. Best if pinched back occasionally when in active growth and after flowering to encourage tighter branching structure and rebloom.
This plant is possibly a hybrid of Plectranthus ciliatus and Plectranthus zuluensis as it has the foliage and form of the former and the flower color of the later. In 2018 Alan Paton, Head of Collections at the Royal Botanic Garden Kew, did a revision of Plectranthus and related plants (Paton, A.; Mwanyambo, M. & Culham, A. (2018). "Phylogenetic study of Plectranthus, Coleus and allies (Lamiaceae): Taxonomy, distribution and medicinal use". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 188 (4): 355–376.). The new names were clarified in 2019 in an article titled "Nomenclatural changes in Coleus and Plectranthus (Lamiaceae): a tale of more than two genera" in PhytoKeys (PhytoKeys 129 (2019) which transferred many of the Plectranthus species, including Plectranthus ciliatus into the genus Coleus, making the valid name of this plant Coleus ciliatus 'Zulu Wonder' if in fact this was the proper identification of this plant - interestingly, Plectranthus zuluensise has remained in the genus Plectranthus. The name Coleus comes from the Greek word 'koleus', meaning a sheath, in reference to the manner in which the stamens are enclosed. We have retained the older name for now as this change gets more widely recognized so not to confuse our staff or our customers. Our thanks to Santa Barbara landscape designer Pat Brodie for sharing this wonderful plant with us that we grew from 2015 until 2020.
This information about Plectranthus ciliatus 'Zulu Wonder' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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