Tibouchina ‘Chameleon’

Tibouchina 'Chameleon' (Tibouchina 'Chameleon') earns its name: the flowers open white, blush through pink, and finish deep purple, so one shrub carries three colours at once. It settles at about 1.8m tall and 1.5m wide, small enough for a courtyard bed or a large pot.

Why you'll love it

• Three flower colours on one plant. Blooms open white and age through pink to purple, so the shrub shifts colour instead of doing one flush of one shade.
• The right size for a small garden. Roughly 1.8m by 1.5m, so it works as a feature where larger tibouchinas need constant cutting back.
• Heat and humidity are no trouble. It holds up through a subtropical summer when many flowering exotics sulk.
• Container friendly. Its size suits a large pot on a patio or balcony, and pot growing lets you shift it out of cold air in winter.

Where it works best

Feature planting. Give it a spot you see from a window or a seating area, because the colour change is worth watching up close. One plant in a bed of green foliage does more than a row.

Pots, balconies and courtyards. Use a pot at least 500mm wide with free draining mix. Container growing usually holds it nearer 1.2m to 1.5m and keeps the plant portable in cooler districts.

Small gardens. Its modest width lets it sit within a metre of a path, and it takes an annual prune back to shape without complaint.

Growing Tibouchina 'Chameleon' in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun for the heaviest flowering, with afternoon shelter welcome in inland heat. This is a plant for tropical, subtropical and warm temperate gardens. Being frost tender, cool temperate, tableland and frosty inland gardens need it potted and moved under cover.

Soil. Free draining and slightly acidic, enriched with compost. Tibouchinas dislike lime and waterlogging, so avoid limestone soils and raise the bed on heavy clay. Mulch 75mm deep, pulled back from the stem.

Water and feed. Water twice a week through the first summer and keep it evenly moist while flowering, because dry spells cut the display short. Feed a fertiliser for acid loving plants in early spring and again after the main flush.

Pruning. Prune straight after the main flowering, taking up to a third off to keep it compact and set up next season's flowering wood. Left unpruned it goes leggy and flowers thin out on bare lower stems.

What to expect when it arrives

It is grown in a single size, tube stock, currently listed on backorder so it ships with the next crop. Each plant arrives as a young rooted cutting around 15 to 25cm tall, lightly branched and not in flower.

Pot it on for a season, or plant it out and tip prune once to force branching. Expect modest flowering in its second year and a full display from the third. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery, and every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Read our guide to growing tibouchina in Australian gardens.
• Compare it with Tibouchina 'Illusion', a slightly smaller purple flowered form.
• Browse the wider range of flowering plants and shrubs.
• See other plants suited to pots and containers.

Common questions

Why are there white, pink and purple flowers at once?

That is the point of this variety. Each bloom opens white and darkens through pink to purple as it ages, and because flowers open in succession you see all three stages together.

Can I grow it in a pot?

Yes, and it is a good choice for one. Use a pot 500mm or wider with free draining acidic mix, water more often than in the ground, and expect a slightly smaller plant.

Will it survive frost?

It is frost tender. Light frost damages soft growth and a hard frost can kill a young plant, so cool temperate and frosty inland gardens should keep it potted and under cover.