{"product_id":"tibouchina-kathleen","title":"Tibouchina ‘Kathleen’","description":"\u003cp\u003ePink flowers on a genuine small tree, rather than on a big shrub, set Kathleen apart from the other lasiandras here. Usually listed as a form of Tibouchina granulosa, now placed in Pleroma, it builds a rounded crown on a short trunk, and its rough, slightly hairy dark green leaves, each with a few deep lengthwise veins, keep that crown dense between flowerings.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom late summer into autumn it carries sprays of soft rose pink flowers at the tip of almost every branch. That colour is the point: a lighter, sweeter note than the deep purple most people picture when they think of tibouchina, and easier to place beside brick, sandstone or pale render.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eCoast, not tablelands\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eKathleen flowers freely along the coast from Sydney north through Brisbane and beyond, and in Perth where the soil has been improved and acidified. Frost burns the soft new growth and a hard one cuts the tree back to bare wood, so on the tablelands and across the frosty inland it spends its growing season replacing frosted wood rather than setting buds. Full sun gives the heaviest bloom; part shade is accepted, though the crown grows looser and the display thinner. Soil should drain freely and sit on the acid side of neutral, with compost dug through and a bark mulch over the top.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIts forks are weak and the crown carries a lot of leaf, so a windy corner is the wrong place for it. Put it in the lee of the house or of taller trees, and thin the head in winter so it carries less weight into the summer storms.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePink, violet or white\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eColour and habit separate Kathleen from its two relatives in the range. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/tibouchina-lepidota-alstonville\"\u003eTibouchina lepidota Alstonville\u003c\/a\u003e carries deep violet flowers on a large shrub that suits informal screening, and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/tibouchina-peace-baby\"\u003eTibouchina Peace Baby\u003c\/a\u003e is the compact white one for a pot or a narrow bed. Kathleen sits between them in colour and is the one to grow as a small specimen tree: plant it at the corner of a house, in a front lawn or above lower shrubs, where the pink crown can be seen from the street. Other trees and shrubs grown for their flowers are in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/flowering\"\u003eFlowering Plants\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePruning for flower, feeding for colour\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFlowers form on the new growth at the branch tips, so do any shaping once flowering has finished, through winter or very early spring, and leave the tree alone from midsummer, when the shoots that carry the autumn display are forming. On a tree form keep it light: shorten long, whippy shoots by about a third to keep the head dense, and remove the occasional low branch to lift the canopy. Give it an azalea and camellia fertiliser as new growth begins in spring, and again in early summer while the flowering shoots are forming.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMagnesium runs short on alkaline ground and beside fresh concrete, so a watering can of Epsom salts each spring is worth doing there. Water deeply through dry summers, because a drought stressed tree drops leaves and sets fewer buds. Pests are rarely the issue: soil, wind and cold account for nearly every unhappy tibouchina.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 2 sizes, from 100L up to 200L, priced from $389.00 to $779.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Every size here is established stock rather than a starter plant, so this line is intended for immediate effect rather than for growing on. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/best-trees-for-small-backyards-australia\"\u003echoosing a tree for a small backyard\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"100L","offer_id":67672050303345,"sku":null,"price":389.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false},{"title":"200L","offer_id":67672050368881,"sku":null,"price":779.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/tibouchina-kathleen.jpg?v=1791523399","url":"https:\/\/plantdrop.com.au\/products\/tibouchina-kathleen","provider":"Plant Drop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}