Plectranthus ‘Purple Martin’

Waist high clouds of stormy purple flowers from September through November sound stunning. Are stunning. But when it’s April and all the other garden center plants have flowers, when you’re the dull green ugly duckling, nobody picks you up. You sit. You get root bound then put on the super discount cart otherwise known as the rolling ghetto to the dumpster. 

That’s the fate of most Plectranthus. Next spring, look for this ugly duckling because she will turn into a stunning…..’Purple Martin.’ 

Of all the plants I’ve ever selected, Plectranthus ‘Purple Martin’ is the most stunning and most spectacular for our long, warm falls. 

We grow this as a cold tender, fast-growing tropical in Zone 8.  In warmer places, it will come back making a short-lived perennial.

Late winter rooted cuttings grow quickly, making an attractive foliage plant most of summer. Kelly green leaves have a bit of burgundy, so it comes across as a green, bland coleus.  But in late summer, when those flowers come on, you cannot miss the show.

Back in the 1990’s we ordered wild-collected seed of Plectranthus fruticosus from Silverhill Seed in South Africa.  Of the many plants grown from those seed, two stood out for their difference from the species.  This one, we selected and called ‘Purple Martin’ both for the bird but also for horticulturist Jim Martin (now of Charleston, South Carolina). The species has been questioned. Seeds get mixed up, genetically and physically. We need a botanist to id it. 

Many plectranthus like shade. This species will tolerate a good bit of shade but flowering is best in full sun.

Plectranthus ‘Purple Martin’