Alyogyne huegelii

Alyogyne huegelii 'Karana'.   

This gorgeous plant will stop you in your tracks in a garden of either native or exotic plants. It’s a spectacular new form of the native hibiscus, or ‘blue hibiscus’ with attractive blue-green foliage, and masses of deep mauve flowers. It grows to about 1.5m high and wide, and prefers a sunny well-drained spot. Try it as a specimen shrub or hedge. Feed it with a low-phosphorus native fertiliser and water during dry times. Prune back by one third after flowering every year. Life expectancy is around 3-5 years, we then either replace it with another or grow something else.  

We like it with Eremophila 'Spring Mist', lilac kangaroo paws, lilac roses, tea trees, purple bottlebrush, coastal rosemary, blue chalksticks, Kunzea, correa, wax flower (Eriostemon), Salvia, Buddleia and purple agapanthus.

More: There are many different cultivars with slightly different tones.   

Text: Libby Cameron