Lespedeza thunbergii

Common name: Thunberg's bush clover
Plant type: Flowering subshrub
Flower color: Rosy purple
Bloom period: Late summer-fall
Fragrance: None
Height: 3-5 feet
Hardiness: USDA Zones 5a-7b
Light needs: Full sun
Moisture needs: Average
Seasonal character: Fine-textured, blue-green foliage; arching spikes of rosy-purple flowers late summer through fall.

If you're an observant reader, you may have noticed that I've classified this plant as a "subshrub." All that means is that Thunberg's bushclover (can we just call it bush clover for short?) looks like a shrub and certainly becomes woody, at least at the base. But it may die back to the ground in northern parts of its range, like a perennial. This doesn't pose a problem, because, like a perennial, it will still flower in the fall, as it is a plant that blooms on current season's wood.

Often unfairly relegated to highway plantings only, this bushclover deserves much wider use in our gardens. I was reminded of this when I recently saw the plant blooming in the purple mixed border designed originally by Gertrude Jekyll at the Bois des Moutiers, one of our favorite Norman haunts.



There it was, looking like a fall wisteria, only more graceful. Its flowers are more delicate and rosy purple rather than blue violet, and at the time I saw it, it was trailing them through masses of purple sage and silver-leafed artemisias. The combination was altogether lovely, and reminded me to remind you to grow this plant!

As a member of the legume family, bushclover can tolerate poor soils as it fixes atmospheric nitrogen. That's why you often see it in highway plantings, where you're apt to miss its purple haze as you zip by at 70 miles per hour. In your own garden, it will be most at home in the mixed border, where it mingles amicably with perennials. It isn't persnickety as to soil, but I suspect it prefers a bit of drought to soggy wetness.

In early spring, check your plants for winterkill by scratching the bark on the stems. If the tissue beneath is bright white, it's alive; if dark brown or black, cut it off down into live wood. On the other hand, if you live in the South and your bushclover is getting too big (due to a lack of winterkill), you can go ahead and give it an early spring pruning to control its size. In either case, Thunberg's bush clover will grace your fall garden with its garlands of rosy purple blossoms.

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Products of Interest:
Champagne shrub pruners

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Hamamelis virginiana	Hamamelis x intermedia	Jasminum nudiflorum	Lonicera fragrantissima
Nepeta sibirica 'Souvenir d'André Chaudon'	Parrotia persica	Pulsatilla vulgaris (formerly Anemone pulsatilla)	Rosa x multiflora 'Ghislaine de Felighonde'
Sarcococca ruscifolia	Agastache rupestris	Alchemilla mollis	Anchusa azurea
Buddleia alternifolia	Calamintha grandiflora	Colchicum species	Helianthella quinquenervis
Helleborus niger	Hibiscus syriacus 'Bluebird'	Rosa x 'Gloire de Dijon'	Solidago rugosa
Tilia x europaea