Tibouchina ‘Kathleen’

Tibouchina 'Kathleen' (Tibouchina 'Kathleen') is the soft pink lasiandra, a compact shrub to about 2m tall and 1.5m wide that flowers as the season turns. Where most tibouchinas are deep purple, this one opens pale pink, which sits more easily against brick and rendered walls. It suits a courtyard bed or a large pot.

Why you'll love it

• Soft pink instead of purple. The pale flowers give you the lasiandra shape and season without the strong purple that not every garden wants.
• Compact at 2m by 1.5m. It stays a shrub, so it fits in front of a fence or beside a path without a hard cutback every year.
• Comfortable in humidity and coastal air. Humidity tolerant and salt tolerant, so it holds up in coastal and northern gardens.
• Good for bees and butterflies. The open flowers arrive when other forage is thinning.
• Low maintenance. Prune once after flowering, feed in spring, and it looks after itself.

Where it works best

Pots, balconies and courtyards. A pot 400mm or wider is enough, and container growing holds it nearer 1.5m. Site it out of strong wind, which tears the petals.

Feature planting in a small garden. One plant beside a seat or an entry does the job, and it will not shade out its neighbours.

Low flowering hedge. Plant 1m apart in a single row for an informal hedge of about 1.5m to 2m. It gives colour and a soft divide rather than a solid privacy screen.

Growing Tibouchina 'Kathleen' in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun for the best flowering, with afternoon shade welcome in hot inland gardens. This is a tropical, subtropical and warm temperate plant. It is frost tender, so the tablelands, cold inland districts and frosty southern gardens should pot it and shift it under cover for winter.

Soil. Slightly acidic, free draining and improved with compost. On heavy clay, plant on a raised mound: cold wet soil in winter kills a tibouchina more often than the cold itself.

Water and feed. Deep water twice a week through the first summer, then weekly in hot weather, and never let a potted plant dry out in bud. Feed with an azalea and camellia fertiliser in early spring and after flowering.

Pruning. Prune straight after the flowers finish, taking off up to a third and shortening long whippy growth. Wind protection matters as much as pruning here.

What to expect when it arrives

This one is grown in tube stock only. A tube is a young plant, usually a single stem under 30cm, which means two things: it is cheap enough to plant a group or a short hedge, and it needs a season in the ground before it looks like much. Expect strong growth through the first warm season and flowers in its second year.

Tube stock travels well because the root ball is compact and the top growth is light. Pot it into a 200mm container first if you would rather not plant something this small straight into a bed. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery. Advanced and large stock is freighted at cost, and every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Our guide to growing tibouchina covers pruning timing and a heavier display.
• For deep purple at the same size, see Jazzie Tibouchina.
• Browse the wider flowering plants range.
• Find companions in plants for small gardens.

Common questions

How big does it get?

About 2m tall and 1.5m wide in the ground, closer to 1.5m in a pot. It holds that size without hard annual pruning.

Only tube stock is listed. Is that a problem?

No, but set your expectations. A tube needs a growing season to look established, so it suits patient planting, or potting up first, rather than instant effect.

Why are the flowers browning and dropping early?

Wind is the usual cause, followed by dryness at the roots. Give it a sheltered position and keep the water steady while it is in flower.