Spanish Shawl Cascade Pink

Spanish Shawl Cascade Pink (Centradenia 'Cascade Pink') is a fast cascading groundcover that reaches about 30cm tall and 80cm across, carrying clear pink flowers through the warm months. It is built for the front of a bed, the top of a retaining wall or the edge of a balcony pot, anywhere the stems can arch out and fall. Few plants this small cover ground this quickly.

Why you'll love it

• Fast cover from a small plant. It closes the gaps within a season, so a whole bed edge can be planted from tubes.
• Pink flowers in quantity. The display arrives in flushes through the warm months, heavy enough that the foliage largely disappears beneath it.
• Made for edges. The stems arch and cascade rather than mound, so it suits a wall top, a step or a pot rim.
• Heat and humidity suit it. It tolerates both, which rules in a lot of tropical and subtropical gardens where flowering groundcovers usually struggle.
• Good for bees and butterflies. Pollinators work the open pink flowers right through the season.

Where it works best

Groundcover and borders. Plant 40cm apart for a cascading groundcover. At that spacing the stems interlock within a season and the planting reads as one sheet.

Retaining walls and slopes. Set it along the top course so the growth spills down the face. On a bank the same spacing holds soil and softens a hard, hot aspect.

Balconies, courtyards and pots. In a raised pot or a wall planter the cascade is the point. Use a container at least 300mm wide.

Growing Spanish Shawl Cascade Pink in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun gives the heaviest flowering, and partial shade is fine in hotter inland gardens. This is a tropical, subtropical and warm temperate plant that takes light frost at most.

Soil. Free draining soil with compost worked through the bed. It resents sitting wet, so on clay plant on a raised mound. Mulch to 50mm and keep it back from the stems.

Water and feed. Moderate, regular water is what it asks for, and it should not dry out completely in summer. A complete slow release fertiliser in early spring, repeated in mid summer, keeps the flushes coming.

Pruning. Shear it back lightly after a flowering flush. It reshoots freely from the base.

What to expect when it arrives

It comes as tube stock, or as a 140mm pack of 10 for anyone covering a real area. Tubes are small and single crowned, which is what you want when planting fifty along a wall. The 140mm plants are further along and look fuller in the first season.

Plants are packed to travel upright and delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Expect a couple of quiet weeks after planting, then rapid spread once the roots move in warm weather, backed by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Browse the full groundcover range
• Trailing plants for a retaining wall
• Plants that suit balconies and courtyards
• Subtropical planting ideas

Common questions

How many plants do I need per square metre?

At 40cm spacing you need about six plants per square metre. Closer planting does not close the cover much faster and simply costs more.

Will it survive a cold winter?

Only where frost is light. It is happiest in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate gardens, and in cooler areas it is best treated as a pot plant that shelters through winter.

How do I stop it looking straggly?

Shear it after each flowering flush, and cut the whole planting back in early spring. It reshoots from the base, so regular light trimming keeps it dense instead of woody at the centre.

Can I grow it in a hanging or wall planter?

Yes, and it is one of the better choices for one. Use a free draining mix, water more often than in the ground, and let the stems fall rather than trimming them level.