Ribbon Bush

Edibility: 

The leaves are eaten as spinach in some areas.

Uses:

• Ornamental: An excellent garden subject, providing attractive winter colour when few other plants are flowering.

• Traditional medicine: Crushed leaves are traditionally used as a poultice for sore eyes.

• Cut flowers: Makes a good cut flower because it lasts well in water.

• Landscaping: Excellent choice for under deciduous trees. Can be used as a backdrop to a low, mixed, herbaceous border.

• Erosion control: Can be used on banks to help bind soils.

Ecology:

• The flowers are a food source for insects, including bees, flies, and other small insects, which visit in search of nectar or pollen.

• These visiting insects then become a food source for insectivorous birds, such as Puffback (Dryoscopus cubla), Southern Boubou (Laniarius ferrugineus), barbets, robins, and thrushes.

• Attracts butterflies and sunbirds. Butterflies such as Green-banded and Citrus Swallowtails, Common and Broad-boarded Grass Yellow, Zebra White, Common African White, and African Vagrant are attracted. Bees, honey bees, and carpenter bees are also attracted.

Distribution and habitat:

• Naturally found in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo provinces of South Africa. It is also found in the Western Cape.

• It also extends northwards into tropical Africa.

• Usually found in dry thicket, evergreen forest, forest margins, and damp places. Also found in woodland and thicket bush clumps.

Derivation of name:

• The genus name Hypoestes comes from the Greek words 'hypo' meaning 'under', and 'estia' meaning 'a house' or 'shelter', referring to the way the bracts (modified leaves) cover the calyx (the green leaf-like structure at the base of the flower).

• The species name aristata is Latin and means 'bearded' or 'awned', referring to the bristle-like tips on the flower bracts.

Interesting facts:

• The Ribbon Bush is known for its incredible winter flowering, bringing vibrant colour to the garden when many other plants are dormant.

• This plant is so good at spreading its seeds that new plants often pop up all over your garden, giving you free plants! You just need to be quick if you want to collect the seeds, as the plant can literally catapult them away when they're ripe.

• Its common name, "Eye-ache Flower" (or Seeroogblommetjie in Afrikaans), isn't just for show – traditionally, people have used its crushed leaves as a poultice for sore eyes!

• Even though some of its common names mention "blue" ribbons, the flowers are more often a beautiful shade of pink or purple-mauve.

Growing tips:

• Planting location: Choose a spot with partial shade for the best results, though it can handle full sun or deeper shade. It's also great for planting under deciduous trees.

• Soil preparation: Ensure your soil drains well. Adding some compost before planting will give it a great start. It prefers a soil rich in compost.

• Watering: Water well in summer, keeping the soil consistently moist, especially when the plant is young. Water less in winter. Once established, it's fairly drought-tolerant but will look its best with regular watering.

• Feeding: Feed with a general fertiliser for flowering plants in spring and midsummer, watering in well.

• Pruning: Prune back severely after flowering (late winter or early spring) to encourage a bushier shape, promote more flowers next season, and prevent it from becoming too woody at the base or untidy. It responds well to being cut back.

• Propagation: It's easy to grow from cuttings or seeds. Take semi-hardwood or soft tip cuttings in late winter or early spring (August - September) and place them in sharp horticultural sand to root. Rooting hormone powder can be useful but isn't always necessary. Cuttings root quickly, in about 4-6 weeks. Seed is easily germinated in spring; however, due to the plant's ability to catapult the seed out of the capsule when it is ripe, collection must be done on a daily basis before the seed is lost. Seed should be sown on a germination medium and covered very lightly. Keep seedlings cool and out of strong sunlight until they are strong enough to be transplanted.