Botanical Name: Melianthus major
Common Name: Honey bush Type of Plant: dicot: perennial Character Habit of Growth: Overall Shape upright, herbaceous plant with dramatic blue-green foliage and dark red flower spikes; sprawls and leans over; can spread by runners Height 6 to 10 ft. Spread 8 to 10 ft. Growth Rate rapid Environment: Exposure outdoors; full sun to partial shade Soil tolerates most any soil with decent drainage Hardiness Hardy; Zones 8,9, 12-24 Morphology: Leaves large, blue green pinnately compound leaves with up to 15 coarsely serrated leaflets; foliage smells vaguely like salty peanuts Flowers dark red flowers in terminal clusters in late winter to early spring; sweet secretions from flowers give the plant its name Fruit 4-celled capsule Propagation: stem cuttings, seed Usage: a strongly architectural plant grown for its dramatic foliage and upright form; can be used as an accent shrub or as a tall background plant; flowers can be very attractive to hummingbirds Landscape Care: Watering takes average watering; can tolerate drought after established and mixes well with California natives Fertilizing balanced fertilizer in spring Pruning hard pruning annual pruning gives a denser, neater look Pests/Diseases occasional whitefly in shaded areas Special Conditions/Other all plant parts are poisonous Origin: South Africa Family: Melianthaceae Notes: |
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