Royal Purple Brunfelsia

If you have what we call real shade and live in the temperate California areas, then this plant will give you months of pleasure. Native to the highlands of Brazil, this is a brunfelsia that is covered with flowers during its 3- to 4-month high-blooming season. If it is planted in a cooler coastal zone, then you will also get nice bloom all summer with a heavier bloom in the fall.

This year's crop looks very nice. Our most popular size is the 8-inch pot with about 3 plants in it. As far as we know. we are the only nursery growing Royal Purple Brunfelsiaa. You can buy them in 8" pots, in wood hanging baskets and in large tubs. Once in awhile we have 4-inch in stock.

Please note: It has recently come to our attention that the brunfelsia plants are poisonous to dogs. If you have a pet that eats plants there are any number of plants that are toxic. Actually lots of them. You can check with your local poison control center or the web has lists of poisonous plants.

The seeds of brunfelsia are also toxic but the brunfelsia that we sell, specifically Br. macrantha or Shady Lady has lots of blooms but a very low fertility rate so there almost never any seeds. Br. florabunda with the small fragrant flowers does set seeds. I had hoped at one time in the past to cross florabunda with macrantha and get that lovely fragrance into large flowers. Never happened because Shady Lady has this little fertility problem and I am no expert in this area. Oh well, nature did it up at Descnaso Gardens and we do sell a few of this newer slightly fragrant variety. Unfortunately it does not bloom as well in summer.

If you want to be successful with your Brunfelsia, here are the growing instructions you will need.

Royal Purple Brunfelsia, You may grow your brunfelsia in a pot, in the ground or even train it into a basket. If you are good to your brunfelsia, you should have a very heavy bloom during the spring, some bloom during the summer (if you live in the cooler coastal areas), and some more flowers in the fall. This is how to be "good" to your brunfelsia.

First of all, SHADE. She is a real shady lady. She does best in a real shade spot that also has good light. What do we mean by real shade? Real shade is a spot that only gets direct sun for an hour or so in early morning or late afternoon. However, we still want it bright and with good light. The home of your tuberous begonias, fuchsias and other shade plants is often just right. However, the brunfelsia we are talking about can happily take it a little bit darker than other shade plants. For example: a fuchsia basket will drop its flowers and fail to bloom if you put it under a solid roof. Not so brunfelsia, you can put it in a deep overhang, covered walkway, a place that is too shady for other blooming plants.

Remember, this is a Southern California recommendation. Other parts of the world have less intense sunlight. In Germany and England you see plants growing in full sun that we must put in the shade. There are several other Brunfelsias also. They like to be in at least day sun. The most common B. floribunda, A.K.A. "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow," has a lovely fragrance and smaller flowers that start out dark purple and change to palest light blue.

FERTILIZER: Another very important part of the care is in the timing and type of fertilizer. She is a real ‘pig' when it comes to eating. Brunfelsia does best with a high-nitrogen, high-acid* type of fertilizer. Mir-acid would fit this description. You can also use Weidners' own feed. It doesn't have that high first number (for nitrogen) but it provides plenty. Our plants do just fine on it. If you have your plant in a container, feed it every 2 weeks all year long, if you can. You may also use slow-release fertilizers that last for months. In the ground, you won't lose as much of the fertilizer out the back door so a good feeding once a month is OK. It's nice to add some chelated iron during the year, too.

*Our Southern California soil is all on the alkaline side. Yours may be different.

Use your brain, and think about it; then adjust your fertilizer.

What makes plants bloom? Many factors go into when and how long a plant blooms. We now know that many plants require both a chill period and a certain number of hours of daylight to come into their maximum bloom. Royal Purple B needs to have about 6 to 8 weeks of temperatures that are between 40 and 60 degrees F. In addition, the extra application of fertilizer two to three times during the cold weather keeps the plant from getting so many chlorotic leaves in spring, when the blooms come out. It also gives you a much heavier amount of blooms. After your 2 or 3 applications of extra feed, usually two weeks apart, wait two more weeks, and then leach out the soil a bit, so you are not building up too much fertilizer salts. It is important that you remember that you need to feed your brunfelsia all year, not just in winter.

Why is this? I'm not sure–but I think that, when this plant starts its heavy spring bloom and puts out new leaves, it somehow steals the nitrogen from the old leaves. Not being a plant scientist this is only a guess. The first few years we didn't know to do this. Our fertilizer is in our water; in the cooler winter weather the plants got less water, so they actually were getting less food when they needed more. Usually plants get less fertilizer during cold seasons because their growth slows down, and they need less fertilizer. When winter comes this plant begins to not follow the normal rules of growing.

Boy, did we have yellow leaves in the spring! It also took us a while to see that they needed more than normal shade. We put up double shade cloth, and the plants gave a big sigh of relief and said, "Thank goodness, it took you long enough to figure out what we want!!"

Prune your brunfelsia in the winter. It can get woody and bare if you don't. This is a woody shrub, so don't be afraid of pruning it. You may also prune during mid-summer. You will lose some of your blooms, but there is a period right after the heavy spring bloom and before the summer bud set that you can get in there and cut it back.

Watering. Keep your plants moist but no soggy winter feet. Brunfelsias can take the heat, but if your night time temperatures are staying above 65 or so, you will not get a summer bloom. This is a long-growing plant, and you should get years of beauty. Oh yes, it can get whiteflies, aphids, mealy bugs, and snails and slugs love it. In California almost all plants can get whiteflies.

Other people who live where it gets cold! If you live where it gets below freezing in winter, grow your brunfelsia in a container. In winter, move it in to the brightest, coolest place indoors. You can put it out for the days if the weather is above freezing. Go back to the winter instructions, and try to duplicate them as best as you can. Indoors, watch for over-watering, and do not do the extra feed in winter until you have done a season or two with your plant. As soon as the weather is above freezing, put her out in the shade.

Enjoy the pictures. You will not find this plant in many garden centers. If you want to try it, give us a call. and we will try to ship 4" plants to you when they are available. This is a pain for us and expensive for you. Much better to come to sunny San Diego for a vacation, stop in, and carry your own plants home. Talk your traveling friends into doing you a favor. After all, what are friends for!!

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