Duranta repens

Duranta repens, also known as Cayenne Vanilla Bush, is an evergreen bush highly appreciated in warm climates for its particularly ornamental appearance. Lush and bushy, it displays beautiful persistent green foliage, on which dark clusters of flowers stand out distinctly. These flowers are blue-violet in colour, with white margins and a bicolour heart, creating a symphony of colours. This remarkable flowering lasts several months in warm climates, coexisting with the first fruits. These yellow-orange, small but abundant fruits are also very decorative. Only tolerant of light frosts, the Duranta should be planted in containers in most places to be sheltered during winter.

A member of the Verbenaceae family, like Lantana, Clerodendron, Callicarpa, and Verveines (Verbena), Duranta repens (synonyms Duranta erecta, D. plumieri, D. inermis) is native to the southern United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America. It grows in rocky coastal areas or in more humid inland sites at low altitudes (0 to 200 m (0 to 656 ft)). Named in honour of the Italian botanist Castore Durante, it was introduced to Europe in the late 16th century and has spread worldwide in gardens of Mediterranean, subtropical, and tropical climates, becoming invasive in some countries (Australia, China...).
This beautiful bush has a dense and exuberant habit, with flexible stems that grow in all directions and then hang down, giving it a very ample and bushy appearance. It usually reaches a height of 2 to 3 m (7 to 10ft), but without pruning it can grow even taller. The numerous branches can be slightly thorny (mainly the most vigorous shoots). They bear, small, elliptical, simple leaves, (5-6 cm (2-2.4 in) x 3 cm (1.2 in)), with a pointed tip and a slightly wavy surface. They are evergreen and a beautiful green colour, carried by a short petiole of about 1 cm (0.4 in), arranged in opposite positions.
The flowers appear from May and last for two months, longer in hot climates, diffusing a vanilla fragrance. Flowering is composed of small flowers with 5 petals fused at the base into a tube of 2 to 4 mm (0.1 to 0.2 in) gathered in panicles 10cm (5in) long. At the end of the tube, the petals spread out in a star shape, and their velvety texture is a superb blue-violet colour, edged in white to the heart, giving a bicolour aspect to the flowers. These flowers then produce small, yellow-orange, decorative fruits, slightly less than one centimetre in diameter and round with a slightly pointed tip, contrasting with the mass of foliage, and flowers which are still present during the summer.

A spectacular bush for a good part of the year, Duranta repens reaches its full abundance in areas with mild winters. It grows in full sun or in light shade, in non-chalky, neutral to acidic soil, either moist or dry, but always well-drained. Elsewhere it should be grown in containers to be sheltered from frost in a conservatory or a bright room. An exotic plant with a certain charm, the Cayenne Vanilla Bush is a superb flowering plant that, when associated with other frost-sensitive plants, will create a tropical-inspired scene in Mediterranean gardens. The Caesalpinia gilliesii or bird of paradise, or the Sesbania punicea (Hyères Flamboyant), with their summer flowering that seems to come straight from the tropics, will be perfect companions. In the same category, the Cassia floribunda with canary-yellow flowers lasting as long as those of the Duranta, and perfectly complementing it to create a strong contrast, will complete this exotic scene.