Years ago the director of horticulture of the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., shared a plant with me that had large purple flowers and was called Princess Flower. It thrived, but in my ...

Princess flower is an evergreen shrub with an almost unpronounceable name, Tibouchina urvilleana. The brilliant purple plant flowers from late spring into winter, and is a showstopper in the garden.

Question. The top of a tibouchina in our landscape was damaged by the cold. How far can the shrub be pruned back? Answer. Like many cold-sensitive plants tibouchina, also known as the princess flower ...