BRUNFELSIA pauciflora (B. calycina)

Wonderful shrub, perennial and evergreen, with a thick and regular habit and slow growth, native to South America: at the maximum of its development, it can grow more than 2 m tall and a little less large. The stems, woody at the bottom, with smooth and greyish bark, are rigid and erect and, branching repeatedly and orienting themselves in every direction, give the plant a rounded appearance. The leaves, briefly petiolate, alternate and leathery, glabrous, ovate-lanceolate-shaped with smooth margins and acute apex, are dark green on the upper side and lighter green on the lower one. Between spring and summer, the appearance of this plant changes rapidly: mainly concentrated in the terminal part of the branches, large and showy inflorescences cover the foliage almost completely, giving the bush a truly fascinating look. The pleasantly scented flowers have a corolla composed of only five petals and remain on the plant for a long time. Their color from an initial blue turns to white in two days, passing through a light blue-lilac shade. The presence of flowers of three colors at the same time made this plant deserve the common English name “yesterday-today-tomorrow”. If fertilized, the flowers are followed by ovoid or spherical fruits containing a maximum of 30 seeds.

It prefers bright and sunny locations, but especially where summer afternoons can be hot, it likes a partial shade. It likes rich, fertile and well-drained soils. It does not tolerate the typical saltiness of sea winds in coastal locations where it is therefore preferable to give it a sheltered position; it does not like long periods of drought on the contrary it takes advantage of constant summer watering. It bears minimum winter temperatures only a few degrees below zero and therefore, in regions characterized by intense and prolonged cold, it is better to give it a protected position or shelter in a cool and bright environment in winter. At the end of winter, we can eliminate dry, broken, old or bulky parts and perhaps shorten the various stems to improve their thickening and increase their subsequent flowering. The choice of growing it in large pots and containers on terraces and balconies is refined and impressive. In the open ground, it can be used to create borders, arranging several specimens in succession and maybe placing it together with other essences with the same needs and with complementary blooms: a single plant, however, in any corner of our garden, will be able to capture the attention even of the most distracted visitors!