White Blue Tongue

White Blue Tongue (Melastoma affine 'Alba') is the white flowered form of a tough Australian native shrub from the east and north of the country. It grows fast to about 1.8m tall and 1.5m wide, carrying open white blooms through the warm months followed by dark edible berries. The common name comes from those berries, which stain the tongue when eaten.

Why you'll love it

• It copes with wet soil. Damp, poorly drained ground that kills most shrubs suits it, which makes it genuinely useful along a drainage line or a low spot.
• Quick cover. Fast growing to full size in two to three warm seasons, so a screen or a mass planting comes together quickly.
• Birds and a crop. The berries feed local birds and are edible for people too, sweet and slightly astringent when fully ripe.
• Heat and humidity are no problem. Built for the tropics and subtropics, it holds condition through the sort of summer that browns off exotic shrubs.

Where it works best

Mass planting. Plant 1m apart for a dense block. At that spacing the shrubs knit within a season or two and shade the ground enough to hold weeds down.

Screening and privacy. A single row at 1m spacing gives an informal screen to about 1.8m. It is a soft, natural look rather than a clipped hedge.

Damp areas and borders. Creek edges, rain garden margins and low corners that stay wet all suit it, and it works as a taller backdrop to a native border.

Growing White Blue Tongue in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun to partial shade, with the heaviest flowering in sun. This is a tropical, subtropical and warm temperate plant, and it is frost tender: cold southern and tableland gardens will burn it back or lose it outright.

Soil. Adaptable, and unusually tolerant of heavy or wet soil. It prefers slightly acidic ground with organic matter through it, but handles clay that most natives refuse. Mulch 75mm deep, clear of the stems.

Water and feed. Keep the water up while it establishes and through dry spells afterwards, since it is not a drought plant. A low phosphorus native fertiliser in early spring is all it needs.

Pruning. Tip prune from planting to keep it bushy, and trim by up to a third after the main flowering finishes. Without that it goes open and leggy, though it reshoots readily from older wood after a hard cut.

What to expect when it arrives

It comes in three sizes: single tubes, 140mm in packs of ten, and 200mm in packs of six. Tubes are the economical choice for a large mass planting and catch up within a season given warmth and water. The 140mm and 200mm plants are bushier on arrival and screen a season sooner.

Plants travel packed upright and may drop a few leaves, which is normal. Expect a quiet fortnight after planting, then rapid growth through the first warm season and flowering in the first or second year. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95, and every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Bird attracting native plants for Australian gardens
• What to plant in a waterlogged garden
• Browse more Australian native shrubs
• Compare options in screening plants from 1m to 2m

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it?

One metre apart for a mass planting or an informal screen. Any tighter and the lower branches shade each other out, leaving the base thin.

Are the berries actually edible?

Yes. The dark ripe berries are edible and mildly sweet, and they stain the mouth purple, which is where the name comes from. Birds usually get to them first.

Will it grow in a cold southern garden?

Not reliably. It is frost tender, so it suits tropical, subtropical and warm temperate gardens. In cooler districts choose a frost hardy native shrub instead.