Tibouchina urvilleana, glory bush, is native to northeastern Brazil and so thrives in the bright sun, heat and humidity of Chicago summers. Royal purple 5” across flowers cover this large shrub with velvety leaves throughout most of the growing season. Will tolerate partial shade but flowers best in full sun and needs moist soils. Insect and disease free, this tough tropical makes a bold statement planted directly in the ground as an annual or in a container and overwintered in a bright warm sunny location. There are 350 species in the genus Tibouchina, all of them native to tropical areas of the Americas. Their plant family, the Melastomaceae, can easily be distinguished even when not in flower because of the distinctive parallel veins that run parallel down the leaf (in contrast to all other plant families that have a single prominent vein in the leaf. When in flower the distinctive arrangement of the stamens is a dead give away.