Evergreen shrubPrivacy screenHedgeSpecimenDeer resistant

Cape Plumbago

Plumbago auriculata

A mounding, sprawling evergreen with clusters of sky-blue flowers nearly all year in mild climates, good as an informal hedge or trained up a wall. It takes seaside conditions and deer leave it alone. Its sticky seed heads cling to clothes, and its sap can irritate skin.

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Cape Plumbago: flowers — Photo: Ввласенко, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mature size: 7 × 8 ft; 2.1 × 2.4 m, tall × wide
Hardiness: Zones 9a–11b; USDA
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Blooms: May–Nov

Cape Plumbago at its mature size

A mature Cape Plumbago grows 6 to 15 feet tall and 6 to 12 feet wide, taller than most people.

Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.

Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension, San Marcos Growers.

Through the year

What Cape Plumbago looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.

Winter · Dec–Apr

Light green leaves, few flowers.

In flower · May–Nov

Sky-blue flower clusters over light green leaves.

Photos

Cape Plumbago: detail — Detail · Agnes Monkelbaan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Growing Cape Plumbago

Grows well in: The Southeast, the Plains and Mountain West, the desert Southwest, and California.
Growth rate: Medium
Good for: Privacy screen, hedge, specimen, and deer resistant
Leaves: Evergreen
Native to: South Africa

Spacing for a hedge

VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Cape Plumbago, that’s about 8 ft apart, center to center.

Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.