Leonotis leonurus Fred Meyer Clerodendrum trichotomum has been cultivated

Clerodendrum trichotomum has been cultivated in Western gardens since the mid-1800s

a testament to sheer vigor

when the shrub reveals a true identity in a profusion of rose-red

white to soft pink and freckled with deeper rose inside

Leonotis leonurus Fred Meyer Clerodendrum trichotomum has been cultivatedFew late summer plants command a border like Leonotis leonurus, the lion's ear of the South African veld. Tall square stems, the signature of the mint family, Lamiaceae, rise five feet and more before breaking into tier upon tier of burnt orange flowers, each whorl circling the stem like a ruff. The velvety, curved tubes are the source of both common names, lion's ear and lion's tail, and the botany agrees: Leonotis comes from the Greek for lion's