Medinilla scortechinii

Medinilla (Medinilla scortechinii) is a tropical shrub grown for one thing above all: long pendulous panicles of coral orange flowers that hang below the foliage like small chandeliers. It settles at around 1.5m tall and 1.2m wide, with broad glossy leaves that look good between flushes. This is a plant for a warm, sheltered, humid position, and nowhere else.

Why you'll love it

• Flowers unlike anything else in the garden. Orange to red panicles hang clear of the leaves and last for weeks, then repeat through the warm months.
• A manageable size. At 1.5m by 1.2m it fits a courtyard bed or a large pot rather than needing a whole garden bed.
• Bird attracting. The flowers bring honeyeaters in close, which is a fair trade for a plant you will be looking at anyway.
• Happy in damp ground. It tolerates wet feet, so it suits the low corner of a tropical bed where other shrubs sulk.

Where it works best

Feature planting. Give it a sheltered spot where the hanging flowers can be seen from below or side on, such as beside a path, a deck edge or a low retaining wall.

Pots and containers. A pot 400mm or wider suits it well, and a pot lets you move it into shelter if the weather turns cold or windy.

Balconies and courtyards. Warm, still, protected spaces are exactly what it wants, and the humidity that builds in a small courtyard works in its favour.

Growing medinilla in Australia

Position and climate. Filtered light or morning sun with afternoon shade. This is a tropical and subtropical plant only. It is frost tender, so in warm temperate and cooler gardens it has to be grown in a pot that spends winter under cover or indoors in a bright, humid room.

Soil. Rich, organic, moisture holding soil with plenty of compost through it. It handles damp ground better than most shrubs, but the mix still needs to breathe, so avoid heavy compacted clay.

Water and feed. Keep the root zone consistently moist, never allowing it to dry right out. Feed a controlled release fertiliser in early spring and again in summer, and a monthly liquid feed during flowering helps the display.

Pruning. Trim spent flower panicles once they fade and shorten any leggy stems in late winter to keep the shrub compact. Shelter matters more than pruning here: wind shreds the large leaves.

What to expect when it arrives

Three sizes are grown: 125mm in packs of ten, 180mm in packs of six, and single 300mm pots. The smaller sizes are young plants that take a season or two to flower, while a 300mm plant is established and much closer to its first display.

The large soft leaves can mark in transit, so expect a little edge damage and cut the worst leaves off after planting. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Browse the wider tropical plant range.
• Compare choices for warm gardens in plants for tropical climates.
• Read about designing a tropical garden that looks lush year round.
• See more in exotic and rare plants.

Common questions

Can I grow it outside the tropics?

Only in a pot you can move. It is frost tender and wants humidity, so in warm temperate and cooler gardens it needs to come under cover for winter or live indoors in a bright, humid room.

When does it flower?

Through the warm months, with repeat flushes rather than one burst. Established plants in a sheltered humid spot flower far more freely than young ones in an exposed position.

Why are the leaf edges turning brown?

Almost always dry air, wind or a root zone that has dried out. Move it somewhere more sheltered, mulch well and keep the soil evenly moist.