Barleria ‘Jet Streak’

Barleria 'Jet Streak' (Barleria obtusa cultivar) is the bush violet, and it does something unusual: it saves its whole flowering effort for autumn, when most warm climate gardens have gone quiet. The plant sits at about 1m tall and wide, then disappears under masses of clear purple flowers just as the weather cools. For a low border that needs a late season lift, there is not much competition.

Why you'll love it

• Purple flowers when little else is going. The main display lands in autumn, filling the gap between the summer shrubs and winter colour.
• A tidy 1m by 1m. Compact enough for a border or a large pot, big enough to plant as a low informal hedge.
• Heat and humidity suit it. Tropical and subtropical summers do not knock it about, and it is drought tolerant once the roots are down.
• Bees and butterflies find it fast. The open tubular flowers are heavily worked through the flowering weeks.

Where it works best

Borders, edging and mass planting. Plant 60cm apart for a massed display. At that spacing the plants merge into a single sheet of purple rather than reading as separate bushes.

A low informal hedge. Planted 60cm apart along a path or a fence line it makes a soft, loose hedge around 1m high. This is not a plant for crisp formal clipping.

Pots and feature planting. A single plant in a 400mm or larger pot on a warm patio flowers just as well, and a container makes it easy to move under cover in a marginal climate.

Growing Barleria in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun for the heaviest flowering, though it takes part shade and simply produces fewer blooms. This is a plant for tropical, subtropical and warm temperate gardens. It handles light frost only, so in cold inland or southern districts grow it in a pot you can shift, or against a warm north facing wall.

Soil. Any reasonable garden soil that drains. Work compost through the bed before planting and mulch to 75mm, kept off the stems.

Water and feed. Water twice weekly through the first summer, then moderate water is enough. A complete slow release fertiliser in early spring, and again in midsummer if growth looks tired, keeps the autumn display heavy.

Pruning. This is the one job that matters. Cut it back hard, by about half, once flowering finishes. Left alone it goes leggy and woody at the base within two or three years, whereas a hard annual prune keeps it dense and floriferous.

What to expect when it arrives

Barleria is grown here as tube stock, so what arrives is a young plant of a few branches rather than a flowering specimen. That is the honest trade: tubes are inexpensive and establish quickly, but they need a season in the ground before they perform.

It is a fast grower, so expect a plant approaching full size by the end of the first warm season and a proper autumn display in year two. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Ideas for low growing border plants
• Browse the full flowering plants range
• Compare low maintenance shrubs
• How to prune a flowering shrub properly

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it?

Sixty centimetres apart for massed planting or a low hedge, which is about three plants per running metre. Wider spacing keeps each plant as a distinct rounded bush.

When does it actually flower?

Autumn is the main event, with the display building as the nights cool. In warm subtropical and tropical gardens you may also see scattered flowers at other times of year.

Will it survive frost?

Light frost only. A single cold night will burn the tips and it usually recovers, but repeated hard frosts will kill it. In cold districts a pot that can be moved under eaves is the practical answer.