Yesterday-Today-and-Tomorrow
COMMON NAMES: Yesterday-Today-and-Tomorrow
BOTANICAL NAME: Brunfelsia grandiflora
PRONUNCIATION: Brun-FELZ-ee-uh gran-dif-FLOR-uh
FAMILY: Solanaceae
TYPE: Perennial – Sun
HEIGHT: 8-10 feet
SPREAD: 5-8 feet
SPACING: 2-3 feet; but best used singly; is native to woodland areas of Brazil.
HABIT: Bushy growth all summer with flowers starting dark lavender, fading to light purple and then to white before falling. Very pleasant fragrance; spring flowering; summer flowering; fall flowering. Typically multi-trunked or clumping stems.
CULTURE: Easy to grow in any well-drained soil, likes good bed preparation. Drought tolerant. Regular fertilization will create more blooms.
USDA HARDINESS ZONES: 9-11
LIGHT REQUIREMENT: part shade to part sun
DROUGHT TOLERANCE: moderate
Photo by Ettore Balochi, via Flickr
SOIL SALT TOLERANCES: Moderate. In zones colder than 9, grow yesterday-today-and-tomorrow in a pot so you can bring it indoors when temperatures drop.
USES: Summer color, pots, hanging baskets. Specimen; accent; border; foundation; mass planting; screen; trained as a standard. Attracts hummingbirds.
PROBLEMS: Few pest problems ever noted. Don’t plant too deep in the ground or stems can rot. These plants can be toxic to pets so shouldn’t be planted in areas pets can get to unsupervised.
NOTES: Outstanding plant: plant has excellent ornamental features and could be planted more. The shrub is nicely suited for displaying as a specimen or can be combined with others in a shrub border. It can be used along the foundation of commercial buildings but grows too large for planting along most house foundations. Flowering is acceptable in the partial shade. Selective pruning can keep the plant at any height from 4 to about 8 feet.