This year the Tibouchina is blooming beautifully. Around the suburbs this brilliant splash of purple. The bushes are around 8 - 10 feet tall, and the purple blooms flourish with the sort of weather we have been having lately. It had been dry, and then the rains came, which somehow stimulated the prolific flowers.
Sadly the flowers do not last long, and do not do well in a vase, but when the spent blooms drop there seems to be many more coming along so the 'season' can be quite long and they often have two or more blooming seasons.
The photos above are of my plant which is beside the side fence.
This variety is most likely Tibouchina Alstonville.
