Mussaenda Philippica
Doña Luz
Mussaenda is an evergreen flowering bush native to the African and Asian tropics and subtropics, ranging in height from 2' to 15' tall.. They bloom from Spring to Autumn in areas that have a mild Winter. The flowers can be yellow, red or creamy white, with red, white or pink bracts or sepals surrounding the flowers. This plant can sometimes become deciduous, if subjected to cool or dry conditions, but freezes kill it. In areas that have cooler Winters, where frost is a risk, this plant can be grown in a container. Mussaenda Philippica can sometimes grow to 10ft tall in tropical areas, but grown in a container is more likely to reach 1-3ft tall in containers. It bears clusters of small, tubular flowers with five spreading lobes bloom in Summer, but the large and colorful, ovate, leaf-like sepals, up to 3" long, give the real ornamental display. Some individual flowers in each cluster may develop a single enlarged sepal.
Contributed by @jmaxrom
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Full sun
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Occasional watering
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Not Frost hardy
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Free draining
Common name
Doña Luz
Latin name
Mussaenda Philippica
type
Flowering Shrub
family
Rubiaceae
ph
5.0 - 7.0 Acid - Neutral
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Light
Full sun
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Frost
Not Frost hardy
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Soil
Free draining
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Water
Occasional watering
Plant & bloom calendar
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Best time to plant
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When the plant will bloom
full grown dimensions
1.00 M
1.00 M
Mussaenda Philippica
Mussaenda is an evergreen flowering bush native to the African and Asian tropics and subtropics, ranging in height from 2' to 15' tall.. They bloom from Spring to Autumn in areas that have a mild Winter. The flowers can be yellow, red or creamy white, with red, white or pink bracts or sepals surrounding the flowers. This plant can sometimes become deciduous, if subjected to cool or dry conditions, but freezes kill it. In areas that have cooler Winters, where frost is a risk, this plant can be grown in a container. Mussaenda Philippica can sometimes grow to 10ft tall in tropical areas, but grown in a container is more likely to reach 1-3ft tall in containers. It bears clusters of small, tubular flowers with five spreading lobes bloom in Summer, but the large and colorful, ovate, leaf-like sepals, up to 3" long, give the real ornamental display. Some individual flowers in each cluster may develop a single enlarged sepal.
Planting
From Late Winter TO Early Spring
Plant in late Winter, in a sunny site. Dig a hole twice the diameter of the root mass, and plant it at the same depth it was growing previously. Backfill with the soil that was removed from the hole. Water it well to settle the soil around the roots, and then add more backfill soil on top if it settles below the surrounding ground level.
Flowering
From Mid Spring TO Early Autumn
The 5-petalled flowers appear from Spring to Autumn
Propagating by cuttings
From Late Spring TO Early Summer
Stem tip cuttings are taken in the Spring/early Summer from this years growth. Cleanly cut just below a leaf joint, up to a 10cm tip, remove lower leaves and pinch out the tip, dip into hormone compound and place them around the edge of a pot filled with cutting compost., water well. Place a plastic bag over the pot to give humidity, the bag must be removed a couple of times a week to ventilate, put the pot in a light spot but avoid direct sunlight.
jmaxrom