Lespedeza Species, Pink Bush Clover

A beautiful, tough plant with no pests or diseases here, it puts on a spectacular show when in flower from late August into early October...Read More. It is especially lovely when placed to show off its beautiful weeping habit, as on a bank or at the top of a retaining wall.

The red-purple flowers are especially attractive to bees and other beneficial insects.

Tough, unfussy, and adaptable, it's very drought tolerant once established, and doesn't care about soil type, as long as it's well drained. It performs best in full sun but tolerates partial shade as well.

A fast grower, it reaches mature size in two seasons. It is very late to show signs of life in the spring, often not till June here, so it's great for underplanting with spring bulbs and ephemerals. Once it starts growing, it makes up for lost time, and its dense foliage smothers weeds.

Its woody growth usually has some dieback but doesn't generally die back to the ground here in USDA Zone 6a. It's best cut back close to the ground in early spring like a butterfly bush.

Established plants are very drought-tolerant, and they also tolerate partial shade. Mature size here in Massachusetts is no more than 6' x 6'

This plant should be grown far more often in the Northeast. It is invasive in the southeast, spreading there both by seed and by self-layering. I haven't found it to either self-layer or self-sow here in Boston Z6a.

Lespedeza thunbergii is recognized by the USDA-NRCS Plant Material Program as a plant that may become weedy or invasive in some regions or habitats and may displace desirable vegetation if not properly managed ( http:// plants.usda.gov/factsheet/doc/fs_leth4.doc ). It is listed as a nonnative invasive plant for forests in the Southeastern United States and has even become widespread enough to require control measures. The Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council (EPPC) lists it as a category 3 problem in Georgia ( http://www.gaeppc.org ). The EPPC of Kentucky also lists it as an invasive plant ( http://www.invasive.org ).

I raised my plants from seed to be used as a vegtable, not all that good to eat but interesting, especialy the blooms, OK in salads but d...Read Moreull and slightly bitter alone. In it's fourth year it is about 9 feet high and 12 to 15 feet wide, would be taller and narrower if they weren't so loaded with blooms, they are quite bent at the moment, usually a vase shaped plant, but now a coarse fountain effect, it is a fair screen and worth raising for it's ornamental value alone, but not for the small yard. They are in a dry spot, heavily mulched, partialy rotted leaves about 3 inches in depth and get minimal water, but are more attractive when I give them some extra.

I bought this plant at the Tryon Palace historic plant sale in New Bern, NC. two years ago. It is lovely, but needs lots of space for it...Read More's beautiful softly cascading branches. I just moved mine, and it had started 6 suckers which were not attached to the main plant. It has been growing gangbusters in an area that was very wet. Now it's in a much drier area so hope it is as successful.

Lespedeza is a woody perennial in warmer climates but often dies back to the rootstock in colder climates (hence the designation as both ...Read Moreherbaceous and deciduous.)