Jazzie Tibouchina

Jazzie Tibouchina (Tibouchina 'Jazzie') is the compact lasiandra for gardens that cannot house a 4m Alstonville. It settles at about 2m tall and 1.5m wide, then covers itself in deep purple flowers as the weather cools in autumn. Small footprint, heavy seasonal display.

Why you'll love it

• Purple flowers when little else is going. The main show lands in autumn, between the summer perennials and the winter camellias.
• Genuinely small. At 2m by 1.5m it fits a courtyard bed or a large pot without an annual hacking back.
• Coastal and humid gardens suit it. Salt tolerant and comfortable in humidity, where many flowering shrubs mark and spot.
• Bees and butterflies work the flowers. A useful pollinator plant when other forage is thinning out.
• Low maintenance. One prune straight after flowering, a feed in spring, and that is the year.

Where it works best

Pots, balconies and courtyards. A pot 400mm or wider holds it, and in a container it sits nearer 1.5m. Shelter it from strong wind, which shreds the petals.

Small gardens and feature planting. One plant near an entry earns its space on the autumn display alone, and it will not shade out its neighbours.

Low flowering hedge. Plant 1m apart in a single row for a hedge of about 1.5m to 2m. Be clear on what you are getting: a flowering divider, not the solid wall a lilly pilly gives you.

Growing Jazzie Tibouchina in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun gives the heaviest flowering, though it takes part shade and wants afternoon protection in hot inland gardens. It belongs in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate gardens. Frost tender is the honest label: a cold snap browns the growth, so the tablelands, cold inland districts and frosty southern gardens should pot it and move it under cover.

Soil. Slightly acidic, well drained, improved with organic matter. Mound the bed on heavy clay, because cold wet soil through winter kills a tibouchina more often than the cold itself.

Water and feed. Keep the water steady while it establishes, twice a week through the first summer, and never let a potted plant dry right out in flower. An azalea and camellia fertiliser in early spring and again after flowering suits its taste for acid soil.

Pruning. Prune straight after the autumn flowers finish, taking up to a third off and shortening long whippy growth. Leave it later and you cut away next season's flowering wood.

What to expect when it arrives

Two sizes are grown: tube stock, and established plants in 200mm pots sold in packs of six. Tubes are young, usually a single stem under 30cm, and they catch up quickly in warm weather. The 200mm plants are branched and closer to garden ready, the size to choose if you want flowers in the first autumn after planting.

Tibouchina foliage is soft, so a few tired leaves after transit are normal rather than a fault. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Advanced and large stock is freighted at cost. Expect roots to take hold in two to three weeks in the growing season, then steady growth, and every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Read our guide to growing tibouchina.
• Compare it with Tibouchina 'Kathleen', the same size in soft pink.
• Browse more flowering shrubs and trees.
• See what else suits a small garden or courtyard.

Common questions

How big does Jazzie Tibouchina actually get?

About 2m tall and 1.5m wide in the ground, and less in a pot. It is a compact selection, so it holds that size without the hard annual cutback a taller lasiandra needs.

Will it cope with frost?

Not in a genuinely cold garden. It is frost tender, so in cold districts keep it potted and move it under eaves or into a glasshouse for winter.

Can I grow it on a balcony?

Yes, one of its best uses. Use a pot at least 400mm wide with a free draining acidic mix, and site it out of the strongest wind.