Honeybush, <em>Melianthus major</em>

Overview of Honeybush

Melianthus major is a tender shrub grown for its attractive foliage. — *Melianthus major* is a tender shrub grown for its attractive foliage.

One of six species in the genus, Melianthus major is an evergreen shrub in the family Melianthaceae native to drier areas of the southwestern Cape in South Africa. It is easy to grow and has been used as a garden plant worldwide for its attractive foliage.

Honeybush is used as a seasonal ornamental in cool climates.

With large, blue, deeply incised leaves, honeybush makes a dramatic addition to containers or seasonal plantings. Although it is only hardy to zone 8a, it is fast-growing and can be used as seasonal ornamental in colder areas. In the wild it is a winter grower, going dormant in the summer, but will grow well in the relatively cool summers of the Midwest.

Melianthus major in habitat in the Cedarberg Mountains near Clanwilliam, South Africa. — *Melianthus major* in habitat in the Cedarberg Mountains near Clanwilliam, South Africa.

In its native habitat or other mild climates honeybush grows up to 10 feet tall and spreads by suckering roots (and has become an invasive plant in some mild climate areas, such as parts of New Zealand). It is naturally a sparsely branched shrub with a sprawling habit but it looks best when pruned hard and is often treated more like a perennial than a shrub when used as an ornamental. When grown as an annual seasonally in cold climates it remains much shorter but the leaves are still as large.

The blue, pinnate leaves have leaflets with sharply serrated margins.

The pinnate bluish-green to silvery leaves are a foot or more long with a peanut butter-like scent when crushed. Each gracefully arched leaf has 10 to 15 leaflets, each with sharply serrated margins. The glaucous leaves have heavy substance and a smooth, almost waxy surface. The foliage is toxic if ingested.

Although grown primarily as a foliage plant in cold climates, honeybush will flower on the previous year’s wood in mild locations where it can remain in the ground year-round. It blooms from late winter through spring. Tall terminal, narrow, spike-like racemes of lightly scented brownish crimson to maroon flowers are held well above the foliage.

The tall spike-like racemes (L and LC) have numerous crimson flowers (C and RC). The flowers are followed by pale green seed pods (R).

The tubular flowers produce copious nectar, attracting sunbirds and other nectar-feeding birds that pollinate the flowers in in the wild. The flowers are followed by pale green, papery, bladder-like seed pods containing shiny black seeds.

The flowers produce copious nectar that attracts nectar-feeding birds including silvereye (L), double-colalred sunbird (C) and malachite sunbird (R). — The flowers produce copious nectar that attracts nectar-feeding birds including silvereye (L), double-collared sunbird (C) and malachite sunbird (R).

Landscape Use of Honeybush

Pair honeybush in containers with red or purple flowers and plants with fine-textured leaves. — Combine with red or purple flowers and plants with fine-textured leaves.

Use honeybush in beds and borders as a focal point or specimen plant. The architectural quality and coarse texture of the foliage provides dramatic contrast with smaller-leaved annuals or ornamental grasses. It color makes it well suited to a Mediterranean style planting, and it grows quite well in containers.

Pair it with dark red or purple flowers for a cool, harmonizing color combination, or mix it with plants with bright red and orange flowers for greater contrast. Plant it with plants with purple leaves, such as dark-leaved sedum or heuchera cultivars, and coleus for an interesting foliage-only combination.

Honeybush at Olbrich Botanic Gardens, Madison, WI.

General Care of Honeybush

Grow honeybush in full sun to part shade. It does best as an ornamental in moist, fertile soil, although will tolerate dry, infertile soil. Protect the plant from excessive wind.

Although it is generally treated as an annual in colder climates, plants can be kept in containers over the winter indoors to remain evergreen or in a protected location where temperatures remain above 24 °F; it will resprout from the base. Cut the stems back to three inches just as growth resumes in spring, as plants looks betterwhen cut to the ground each spring and allowed to grow new foliage, even if the old stems survive.

Propagating Honeybush

Grow honeybush in full sun to partial shade and moist soil.

This plant can be propagated from seed or by basal cutting in early spring or softwood cuttings taken in spring or summer. Sow seed indoors 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost. Fresh seed germinates in 3 to 4 weeks. Keep moist and barely covered with soil, as light enhances germination.

Plant outdoors after all threat of frost has passed. Plants grown from seed can be quite variable in color, with foliage ranging from green to silver to gray to blue.

Cultivars of Honeybush

A few cultivars are available. These include:

‘Antonow’s Blue’ has powdery blue foliage and is somewhat more cold hardy (zone 7b).
‘Purple Haze’ is a selection from California with finer-textured foliage, a more spreading form, and a purple tint to its stems and leaves.

Author: Susan Mahr, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Reviewers: Allen R. Pyle, Horticulture Outreach Specialist, UW-Madison Extension, Bruce Spangenberg, Horticulture Outreach Specialist, UW-Madison Extension
Revised: June 2026