Blue Potato Bush
Lycianthes rantonnetii Is the Botanical name for this lovely Blue shrub or climber. It has blue/purple flowers with a yellow centre and flowers appear in masses in the warmer months. It is suited for temperate and warm climates, and grows best in a sunny position. The growth habit can be variable.... if trimmed regularly, it can retain a bushy habit, but if allowed to go wild it will be more a climber and scramble over a trellis or fence. Don't be tricked by it's name, it does not grow Potatoes , and the plant is poisonous. i took these photos in a garden in Northern Sydney.
(The Proper Latin Name Is Lycianthes rantonnetii)
Native to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay, the blue potato bush is cultivated all over the world for its beautiful deep purple-blue flowers. If you’ve ever seen it bloom, you won’t forget it. The Royal Horticultural Society gave Lycianthes rantonnetii their prestigious Award of Garden Merit in 2012.
The blue potato bush is a fast growing evergreen that will grow to as much as ten feet in height and width. Typically they are pruned back to a much smaller size. They can be pruned to almost any shape and are often trimmed to a round shape with the lower foliage clipped, thus resembling a small tree.
Several cultivars have been produced with different colored foliage and blossoms. The cultivar Lycianthes rantonnetii 'White' has beautiful snow white flowers,
Lycianthes rantonnetii 'White'
while Lycianthes rantonnetii ‘Variegata’ has cream and grey-green leaves with blue flowers.
Lycianthes rantonnetii ‘Variegata’
All varieties are sweetly scented and attract butterflies. If not pruned, this species will also produce berries which will attract a variety of birds.
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Fav. comment Award !! I like the variegated one in the last Pic.
Although this plant is called "Blue Potato Bush", and it is botanically related to edible potatoes, it is grown for its ornamental beauty only. No part of this plant should be consumed. Blue Potato Bush produces an abundance of charming blue flowers over a long season. It's very showy, fragrant, easy to grow, and a magnet for bees and hummingbirds!
Choose a location that will allow roots to spread and branches to grow freely. Space plants far enough from building foundations, walls, and decks so that the growing foliage won't crowd the structure. Consider whether tall trees or shrubs will block windows or interfere with the roof or power lines.
To prepare the planting area dig a hole as deep as the root ball and three times as wide. After removing the soil, mix it with some compost or peat moss. This enriches the soil and loosens the existing dirt so that new roots can spread easily.
To remove the plant from the container, gently brace the base of the plant, tip it sideways and tap the outside of the pot to loosen. Rotate the container and continue to tap, loosening the soil until the plant pulls smoothly from the pot. The container can also be removed by carefully cutting it down the side.
Source: https://www.mygardenlife.com/plant-library/2580/lycianthes/rantonnetii
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Lycianthes rantonnetii is a species of flowering shrub in the family Solanaceae. Cultivated as ornamental the world over, you might deem it boring and decide to pass it over. But you'd be wrong.
The blue potato bush is one of about 150 species in the genus Lycianthes, which are found mostly in tropical regions of the Americas, with others in the Asia-Pacific region.
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The species is named after Barthélémy Victor Rantonnet, a 19th-century French horticulturalist, who thought at first that it should be lumped in with the nightshades (Solanum) - the same genus as potatoes, hence the frumpy common name: Blue Potato Bush
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You can train it into a little tree, or let it be shrubby. It's easy to prune an doesn't care much when you do it. The flowers don't have a scent but aside from that it's a great little plant that handles all sorts of abuse cheerfully.
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Oh, and boring? More like dangerous. Like most nightshades all parts of this plant are poisonous so keep your kids and dogs out of the flower beds people. A source of psychoactive alkaloids, they will cause a nasty upset stomach and worse.
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@ctrl-alt-nwo,
The flower looks beautiful, and the name of the plant also good! But danger is behind it! Really useful article and photography! Actually I didn't know that! It's better we should not grow it at our gardens!
Cheers~
In our country, this plant is called Nightshade Rantonneti. The indisputable advantage of this plant is a bright, long-lasting and abundant flowering. A fast-growing perennial evergreen shrub or small tree up to 3 m tall. The flowers are bright, purple with a yellow center. It blooms very much in summer and in autumn.
It grows very quickly, so you have to pinch and trim it several times a season. But it perfectly tolerates pruning, and thanks to this property, it can be grown as a head tree, and as a lush bush, and even as an ampelous plant. Its young branches are very flexible, easily bend and the plant can be given any desired shape.
http://edenland.com.ua/rasteniya/paslen-rantonneti.html
I like the standard lollipop plant in the first Pic !
Thank you so much