Rhodopentas bussei

We found this especially showy form of Pentas Bussei during our plant hunting trip to Kenya in 2009. It was growing near the Shimba Hills in the southwestern part of the country. The intense reddish pink flower clusters of this under story species really light up shaded beds and containers while attracting scores of butterflies and hummingbirds to the garden. It was named for German Agricultural Botanist Walter Busse who first discovered it in Tanzania in 1903. Busse’s Pentas will bloom best with a bit of morning sun and a small amount of pinching to keep it bushy.