A beautiful shrub for that difficult patch of full, light to dappled shade, with an extended flowering season from October to June with its peak in April. In my Gillitts (inland Mistbelt area above Durban) plants are never without flowers. The Zulu Spurflower is a soft shrub with a neat spreading habit, growing 1 -2m high depending on the variety. Bright, velvety green have a strong smell when crushed. Long flowers (60 – 100 mm) long; come in shades of dark blue-purple, to pale blue-mauve. There are 3 varieties: Sky, Umgai and Oribi Gorge. It loves humus-rich soils. Plant it in the shade of trees as a backdrop to flowering bulbs like Crinum moorei, Clivia and Scadoxus sp. Use the bright green and white groundcover, Plectranthus verticillatus, as an attractive contrast. Or combine it with family members like the pink Plectranthus fruticosus or white form of P. ecklonii. It can also be clipped into a more formal hedge and is a wonderful container plant. Prune each year to keep neat and to prevent it becoming too leggy. New plants grow from decumbent stems so you may need to pull out a few if your Plectranthus shrubbery increases too much! Pull out and plant elsewhere in situ and you’ll soon have a fresh low screen of blue!