Spacing & sowing

Plant spacing

9 ft 10 in

In-row spacing

9 ft 10 in

Between rows

12 ft 4 in

Square-foot density

Not suited to SFG

Growing

Type

Shrub · Perennial

Botanical family

Mixed / other

Sunlight

Full sun — nothing less than six hours a day.

Watering

Water regularly; drought-tolerant once established.

Feeding

A balanced feed in spring and again in midsummer.

Frost tolerant

Yes

Flowering

April

Pruning

Prune after each flush of flower.

Through the year

• Mar–Apr Spring Growth
• Apr–Sep Flowering
• Sep–Nov pages.grow.permanent.events.SECOND_FLOWERING
• Nov–Dec Winter Dormancy
• Jan–Mar Winter Dormancy

Companions

Bougainvillea, Lantana, Hibiscus, Plumbago

Pests & problems

• Scale insects Immobile brown or white bumps fixed to stems and leaf undersides, sucking sap and weakening growth. Wipe off with a damp cloth or dab with horticultural soap; watch for the sooty mold that follows.
• Whitefly Tiny white moth-like insects that rise in clouds from leaf undersides, weakening plants and leaving honeydew. Hang yellow sticky traps and encourage or introduce parasitic wasps.
• Spider mites Spider mites when the air is dry
• Powdery mildew A white dusty coating over leaves and shoots when roots are dry but the air is humid. Keep plants watered and mulched, prune for airflow, and remove the worst leaves.
• Root & crown rot Root rot in waterlogged soil

Garden allies

Beneficial predators that hunt this plant's pests — grow their favourite flowers nearby to recruit them. ★ companion plant

• Ladybird (lady beetle) Coccinellidae
  Hunts Scale insectsWhiteflySpider mites

  The gardener’s favorite ally: adults and their alligator-shaped larvae each eat thousands of aphids, plus scale, mealybugs, and other soft-bodied sap-suckers. Grow flat, open flowers for the adults and never spray a colony that ladybird larvae are already working.

  Plant nearby CalendulaCilantroCosmosDillFennelYarrow
• Big-eyed bug Geocoris spp.
  Hunts Spider mitesWhitefly

  A stubby 3 mm bug with enormous wrap-around eyes, working the soil surface and the low foliage for aphids, mites, thrips and insect eggs. It is the main natural check on chinch bugs in a lawn and it is killed outright by insecticide.

  Plant nearby CalendulaCloverCosmosGoldenrodSweet alyssum
• Green lacewing Chrysoperla carnea
  Hunts WhiteflySpider mites

  Its bristly larvae — "aphid lions" — impale aphids, mealybugs, thrips, and mite colonies, eating hundreds a week. Adults feed on nectar and pollen from small open flowers and overwinter in hollow stems left standing.

  Plant nearby CilantroCosmosDillSunflowerYarrow
• Minute pirate bug Orius spp.
  Hunts Spider mitesWhitefly

  A pinhead-sized true bug that is the best natural check on thrips, and happily spears aphids, mites, and insect eggs too. It needs pollen when prey is scarce, so keep something flowering nearby.

  Plant nearby CosmosFennelFrench marigoldSweet alyssum
• Dragonflies & damselflies Odonata
  Hunts Whitefly

  Aerial hunters that take mosquitoes, midges and small flies on the wing all day, and whose larvae spend a year or more clearing the same insects from the water. A pond with planted margins and no fish is the way to have them.

  Plant nearby BulrushIrisNymphaeaPickerel Weed
• Hoverfly Syrphidae
  Hunts Scale insects

  Bee-mimicking flies whose legless larvae graze aphid colonies clean while the adults pollinate. A ribbon of shallow, nectar-rich flowers kept in bloom all season recruits wave after wave of them.

  Plant nearby CalendulaChamomileFennelFrench marigoldPhaceliaSweet alyssum
• Parasitic wasps Braconidae & Trichogramma
  Hunts Whitefly

  Tiny, stingless wasps that lay eggs in or on caterpillars, aphids, and moth eggs — the white cocoons riding a hornworm are their calling card, so leave that caterpillar be. Umbel flowers with shallow nectar keep the adults fuelled.

  Plant nearby CilantroDillFennelLovageParsleySweet alyssumYarrow
• Predatory mites Phytoseiulus & Amblyseius
  Hunts Spider mites

  Fast orange mites that hunt spider mites egg-by-egg, and cousins that clear thrips and fungus-gnat larvae. Sold as a biological control for greenhouses; outdoors they follow humidity — mist and mulch, don’t dust with sulfur.

• Rove beetle Staphylinidae
  Hunts Spider mites

  Slim, quick beetles with short wing cases that hunt in soil and litter, taking root-fly eggs and larvae, fungus-gnat larvae, and mites. Mulch and undisturbed ground keep them resident year-round.

  Plant nearby MintThyme
• Spiders Araneae
  Hunts Whitefly

  Webs, ambushes, and night patrols make spiders the garden’s steadiest generalist predators, taking whatever flies or crawls past. Mulch, ground cover, and undisturbed corners keep the population dense.

  Plant nearby LavenderThyme