Tibouchina Grossa

Description

Masses of goblet shaped, carmine-red flowers open amidst dark green, deeply-carved, soft fuzzy leaves on this very rare shrub, which can eventually become a compact tree. A magnet for butterflies and bees, in the wild it is actually pollinated by hummingbirds, where it thrives high in the cloud forests and paramo of the Andes, in Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador between 2400 and 3800 m. Seldom yet seen in cultivation, it will make an outstanding specimen in cool temperate climates.

Sowing Advice

Prepare a pot with a fine mixture of peat, sterile soil or loam and grit. Scatter or sprinkle the seed on to the surface of the pot as surface germination is entirely natural in the wild. Water very gently in, do NOT cover the seeds. Keep the pot in a safe, cool place outside to allow natural temperature variations to induce the seed to come up. Do not use artificial heat! Germination usually takes 4-8 weeks or so although it can take very much longer. The dust-like seeds have been added to Fuller's Earth to enable you to sow it.

Key Facts