Elephant Bush

Light Needs

Bright Direct Light to Bright Indirect Light

Mature Height

1 - 4 Feet

Mature Spread

1 - 3 Feet

Feature

Pet Safe

Join the succulent craze with this cool little elephant bush! True to its name, elephant bush is a favorite food of elephants in South Africa. You can grow it outdoors if you live in a warm climate that occasionally dips to no lower than 30 degrees Fahrenheit. If you live in a colder climate, you can grow elephant bush as an easy-care houseplant.

This drought-tolerant jade-plant look-alike has unusual reddish-brown stems that contrast beautifully with the glossy, rounded, variegated, three-fourth-inch fleshy leaves. It is a slow grower, but as the stems mature, they thicken so the plant takes on an old appearance even when young. Elephant bush has a somewhat sprawling/cascading habit, making it well suited to growing in a hanging basket. When grown in the ground, it can slowly attain a height of several feet, and its evergreen nature makes it useful as a screen or hedge.

Elephant Bush Care

Hold the watering can! Like most succulents, elephant bush thrives on neglect. Just plant it in full sun in sandy soil so it dries quickly and the roots don’t rot. If you are growing it in a pot, be sure the container has a drainage hole at the bottom so the water drains out. If you have a saucer below the pot, it’s critical to empty the saucer after watering so the plant does not stand in water because it absolutely hates wet feet. Use a commercial cactus mix to pot up the plant, or make your own by combining half potting soil with half sand or vermiculite.

Elephant Bush Spacing

In the ground or in a pot, elephant bush grows slowly so it won’t overtake whatever space you give it. In the ground, it slowly reaches a few feet tall and wide but can be kept smaller by pruning the tips. If you want the plant to attain full size, leave a space of two feet around it, but beware that it is very slow growing; you might want to fill in the space with other small plants as it matures, then remove them as things become crowded. A grouping of elephant bushes planted in the ground can be nestled as close as a foot apart, so they appear as one massed plant. The size of a container-grown elephant bush can be controlled by pinching the longest stems and using a small pot. If it becomes pot-bound, simply remove it from the pot and put it in a bigger pot, or vertically slice off part of the plant and roots; the slice can be potted up and enjoyed as an additional houseplant.

SKU:

PORVAP-HP