How to Grow Tibouchina - The Princess Flower
A favourite evergreen shrub, masses of beautiful purple flowers and good textured foliage Tibouchina urvilleana is commonly called The Princess Flower or Purple Glory flower. Also known as Lasiandra, with a number of cultivars including Tibouchina Lepidota Alstonville.
Varieties include those such as Tibouchina urvilleana and Tibouchina Lepidota (Dwarf Tibouchina) and all are grown much the same way.
Flowering from late summer onwards, sometimes into winter in warmer areas it will flower almost year round. Here in our milder winter with nighttime temperatures down to 4C or 39 f it is still flowering mid winter, it is in a sunny protected position but as you can see it is producing masses of new flower buds.
We do not get frosts other than very mild ones here so that is not a problem for us. In areas with heavy frosts the foliage can burn. However, it will bounce back and can be very easily pruned.
This particular plant was grown from a cutting, and it is already over (3ft) 1 meter in height. It grows in good morning sun with a little afternoon shade in summer. They do grow best in a humus rich slightly acidic soil and do like fertiliser. We top dress around the plant with a little cow manure and compost each winter and then use a slow release general purpose fertiliser in spring.
In very hot summers the foliage can wilt, again, a good soaking and it will bounce back well for us.
If the plant becomes to leggy, tall or you just want a smaller bushier look, then simply prune back to any leaf node. This is best down in spring. If left un- pruned it will easily get to 15 ft (3 metres)
You can prune them into a low bushy shape, or let them grow tall. Just find a leaf node and prune to that.
We have even hard pruned a very straggly specimen down to the ground, in spring and it soon put on good new growth.
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