Morning-Noon-and-Night Plants

Description

• Morning-noon-and-night grows from 3 to up to 12 feet tall, depending on the variety and how much you prune it. It has dense branches with broad leaves that remain evergreen throughout the year. The pansy-like flowers appear in clumps during the warm months. They emerge a dark purple and over the next few days fade to lavender and then to white, hence the common names for the plant. Often, you'll see flowers of all three colors on the shrub at once. Once the flowers fade, berries appear in their place.

Environmental Requirements

• This bush grows in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 through 11. It will flower best when exposed to at least six hours of sun, ideally in the morning, with some shady protection during the hottest part of the day. It will also do well in a location with filtered shade all day. Morning-noon-and-night can withstand almost any type of soil acidic or alkaline sand, clay or loam, as long as it drains well. It cannot tolerate flooding.

Care

• Morning-noon-and-night only moderately tolerates drought, so do not let it dry out during the hot summer months. In the first growing season, keep the soil around the plant moist, but not soaked, so the roots can grow strong. Water to a depth of 8 to 10 inches once the top 1 or 2 inches of soil dries to the touch. To keep the plants smaller, prune in late winter, clipping overgrown branches back to a leaf junction. If you plant this shrub outside of its lower zone, protect it with a covering during freezes.

Landscape Considerations

• Although you can keep a morning-noon-and-night plant small with pruning, it typically grows too big for foundation plantings. Instead, plant along walkways or as a large hedge screen. The plant provides plenty of attraction while flowering to work as an individual specimen plant as well. This shrub -- especially its berries -- contains alkaloids poisonous to animals, so do not plant in an area that pets can easily access.