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Violetbushes

Iochroma

Violetbushes
Photo: Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0

Violetbushes are a genus of about 34 shrubs and small trees from the nightshade family, grown for their tubular blue, purple, red, yellow or white flowers. They need protection from frost and are usually grown in containers or as patio standards in cooler climates.

Family
Solanaceae (Nightshade family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Part shade, Bright indirect
Water
Keep soil evenly moist during the growing season and let the top layer dry slightly between waterings.
Soil
Well-drained, fertile potting mix or loam.
Temperature
15–25 °C; protect below 5 °C and overwinter indoors in cooler zones.
How easy
Moderate

About

Iochroma is a genus of about 34 species of shrubs and small trees belonging to the nightshade family Solanaceae. Species are native from Mexico to south Brazil. They are found in the forests of Mexico and South America. Their hummingbird-pollinated flowers are tubular or trumpet-shaped, and may be blue, purple, red, yellow, or white, becoming pulpy berries. The cupular (cup-shaped) calyx is inflated in some species. The leaves are alternate, simple, and entire.

Iochromas are cultivated as flowering ornamentals and in cooler zones (zones 7–8/9) make useful patio shrubs for summer display or conservatory plants. The majority are not frost-hardy and must be overwintered under protection. In warmer zones (zones 9–10) they can be used as landscape plants. They are commonly trained as standards (topiary) to control their size and shape.

How to grow it

Several forms of Iochroma (some wild collected, some garden hybrids) have been given cultivar names. Some of the cultivars have been assigned to species but others, mainly hybrids, have not. There may be some synonymy in this list.

Other Iochroma plants

Wild Tobacco

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Iochroma by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

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