I don't know why tibouchina grandiflora is not more widely grown. such lovely blooms and huge-fuzzy leaves
Such a lovely plant and not widely grown.
It looks beautiful Barb! You take the most amazing pictures!
i have a ticouchina that i got from gloria a few years back. All i remember is that its called princess flower.
Yours is gorgeous!!!
MsJen, there are several varieties of tibouchina. This one is about 10 ft. tall.
I am lucky to have this babe growing in our forests. It is apreciated here as ornamental :^)
10 foot tall???
I'm thrilled that my one is 2 foot but never bloomed(not thrilled about it not blooming though)....LOL
I did get one a few months ago though from a great freind and it bloomed with the most gorgeous purple flower...lots of buds coming out though.....
Some time ago that Tibuchina got lose up mountain on Kilauea...and it grows massively invasively beautifullly...impossible to get rid of. Your photo is terrific! I love the purples and reds together.
Great picture Barb. How big are the blooms? I have a tibouchina that has blooms that are about two inches across. Those look small unless those leaves are bigger than I'm imagining.
Barb, is that species reliably hardy in your zone, in the ground? If so then I will make sure I get one.. I had the more tropical one in the Jacksonville area but I was a zone higher there than here.
Brugie, The flower heads get large-about 5" long. Each flower is only about 1/2" across.The leaves are large silver and fuzzy about 3-4" wide on the larger areas. They are different than the single flower variety Tibouchina urvilleana
Trish, I have been growing it in the greenhouse and this year I planted some in the ground. Will let you know how it does this winter. The Tibouchina urvilleana comes back for me.
Thanks all for the lovely words on photo-I love to grow and photo. Having touble with camera. It is why I haven't posted much lately.
This message was edited Aug 22, 2004 11:50 PM
Bward..what a fabulous photo!
Cheers,
Carol
Thanks Barb. It is a gorgeous bloom cluster.
where could I get this plant, I would like one that is larger than just a seedling
It's beautifu! But I don't know what the whole plant looks like. I bet you could post a photo of the plant in a context if I ask "pretty please!"
Here in Northern CA it is easy to buy the T. urvilleana and T. heteromalla. I've never seen the T. grandiflora, it must be very beautiful. I have both T. urvilleana and T. heteromalla. They grow well here outdoors, although they are not overly happy with our cold wet winters and need a sheltered spot in the garden bed.
Here is T. urvilleana taken just yesterday. It's been a cold foggy summer and it is a bit late in blooming. This plant was from a 1-gallon can, about 1' tall, planted Oct 2002. This is grown more for the silvery green leaves, as the flower spikes, although beautiful, are not quite as showy as T. heteromalla. The latter has more spectacular, large purple flowers, but the leaves are much smaller than T. urvilleana and the plant has a much more open, airy appearance compared to T. urvilleana.
