Turn Shade Into a Glade

Strolling in Kirstenbosch recently, I came across this quote on a plant label for a group of Spurflower, Plectranthus plants. It immediately crossed my mind that ‘turning shaded areas into glades’ was exactly what I was trying to achieve in my own garden.

colour and variety then our permitted species of the Plectranthus genus will certainly brighten up these areas.

As with most Simbithi gardens, many of the sun-loving groundcovers that were originally planted have been shaded out as trees and shrubs have grown. Shade loving shrubs and groundcovers need to be planted into these now largely bare areas. If one is looking for

Plectranthus is the largest genus of the so called 'mint family’ (Lamiaceae) and they vary enormously from one species to another. They are all easy to cultivate and predominantly like shade or semi-shade. Most species have showy flowers with the most common colours being blue, purple, white and pink. When crushed, the leaves of every species have a distinct aroma, some pleasant, others pungent. They all enjoy well composted or humus rich soil and all benefit from being pruned back after flowering. Although they can all be cultivated by seed, the easiest method to propagate spurflowers is by cuttings. Being a rather lazy gardener, I tend to plant cuttings in situ and then just keep the ground damp till I notice new growth, but more diligent gardeners put their cuttings into bags of clean river sand first and only plant them out once the cuttings have developed roots. Cuttings are best taken in spring or early summer. hairs covering the stems and the margins of the leaves.This species is easily recognised by the purple underside of the medium-sized leaves and by the way it grows along the ground with the stems curving up to just over half a metre in height. It is free flowering and occurs naturally in our subtropical forest floors that are warm, lightly shaded and damp.

With my love of white flowers, my favourite species is the Speckled Spur-flower, Plectranthus ciliatus with its attractive white to light pinkishpurple flowers. Ciliatus (hairy) refers to the purple

The flowers bloom at the end of the growing season in late Summer and early Autumn. The tall, showy flowers attract insect pollinators such as bees and butterflies. The pollen bearing anthers ripen before the style of the flower does. This is to promote cross pollination with other P. ciliatus flowers. Incidentally, these attractive plants make stunning hanging baskets because of their trailing growth habit. The fastest-growing and largest of the spur-flower species on the Simbithi permitted list of plants is the very showy Tall-spurflower, Plectranthus ecklonii. This species can reach three metres in height but most specimens on Simbithi are between one and two metres in height. The large, upright, wedgeshaped flower spikes (inflorescences) are 37 centimetres high.

We are not really supposed to plant cultivars on Simbithi but the blue, pink and white cultivars of this species are often seen together to striking effect! This is one of the most popular and attractive spur-flowers for the garden. It flowers best in dappled shade which represents the forest edge where it is most often found in the wild. The leaves are large and the stems are square in cross-section. Not only is it fast growing but it flowers profusely within the first year of planting. As it is a pioneer shrub, it needs to be pruned back hard. Do this in midWinter after flowering to be rewarded with a great show the following year. Note that only the very top leaves should be left on the cuttings. If propagating by seed, they can be sown in situ or planted out as soon as they are large enough to handle. Another well-known Plectranthus is the quaintly named “Stoep jacaranda”, Plectranthus saccatus. Not only is this a popular garden plant, it is also widely grown in containers on patios hence the common name. The tooth-edged leaves are a bright, shiny green contrasting with the relatively large blue to lilac flowers. A less common form with white flowers also occurs naturally, and today there are many different cultivars available. I have found that tip cuttings of this species work best and if preferred they can be popped into a jar of water to root before planting. As their natural habitat is the damp forest floor in dappled shade, you can expect this plant to die back if it dries out. are soft and velvety to the touch. It is a rambling shrub that can reach two metres in height. The flower tubes of this species are particularly long and the main pollinator is a long-tongued fly that rather resembles a bee. This is a popular spurflower species with gardeners as it does so well in shade, semi-shade or even in full sun. This species is also used in containers, especially when pruned to discourage its rambling habit, but will need to be replaced from time to time.

I grew the Gossip Spurflower, Plectranthus verticillatus, in my Westville garden both for its appealing foliage and pretty white to lilac flowers. This ground-hugging plant is popular in many parts of the world and does well on a bank. It is indigenous to the margins of our south-eastern forests in Southern Africa but has become naturalised in other parts of the world, such as southern USA, the Caribbean and NSW in Australia. It is hardy, as it is a semi-succulent and is very effective in containers and hanging baskets. It is very easy to grow and will take full morning sun or partial shade. I love that this plant flowers both in Spring and Autumn.

The Zulu Spurflower, Plectranthus zuluensis, is identified by the delicate blue of its flowers and pungent smell of the crushed leaves which

Of interest is that recent molecular studies on Plectranthus showed that the species in the genus did not have a common ancestor and that it contained three distinct clades. As a result, some species were moved into the Coleus genus and a new genus Equilabium was formed. So, in 2019, P. hadiensis and P. madagascariensis were moved into the Coleus genus and P. laxiflorus became Equilabium laxiflorus . So, these three species of plants remain on our list but just go by their new names. However, the Herero spurflower, Plectranthus hereroensis , is not locally indigenous to our area, so did not belong on the list in the first place. moorei , red Fireball Lilies, Scandoxus multiflorus subsp katherinae and even white-flowered Forest Paintbrushes. Shade areas certainly don’t need to be dull and increased plant diversity will also mean more forest butterflies, birds and other fauna will be drawn to your garden.

Mixing different species of spurflowers adds interest as the heights, leaf shape, growth habits, as well as the colours and size of flowers, vary considerably from one species to another. As you transform bare shady areas into tranquil glades, feel free to add other shade loving groundcovers such as Clivias (C. miniate of C. clivia gardenia) , orange-flowered Falling Stars (Crocosmia aurea), pink-flowered Forest Crinum Lilies, Crinum

For more detailed information on these plant species, refer to:

• Pooley, E. 1998. A Field Guide to Wild Flowers

KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Regions. Natal Flora Publications Trust, Durban.

• https://pza.sanbi.org/plectranthus-ciliatus

• https://pza.sanbi.org/plectranthus-ecklonii

• https://pza.sanbi.org/plectranthus-saccatus

• http://pza.sanbi.org/plectranthus-verticillatus

• https://pza.sanbi.org/plectranthus-zuluensis