The Crave™ Calibrachoa, otherwise known as the Calibrachoa X Hybrida Crave™ Series or Beautyberry ‘Profusion’, Callicarpa bodinieri ‘Profusion’, is a rather well known shrub plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and fast growth, this shrub will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
This is why all the topics you need to know in order to achieve this will be covered in this Crave™ Calibrachoa Care Guide. Ready? Let’s go!
The basic care guidelines you need to remember for your Crave™ Calibrachoa are the following:
- Water: The Crave™ Calibrachoa needs evenly spread moist soil – try to avoid letting the soil dry out.
- Light: Keep your Calibrachoa X Hybrida Crave™ Series in an environment where it can receive partial to full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Crave™ Calibrachoa in soil with well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
And that’s practically it! If you keep these three factors in check, your Crave™ Calibrachoa will likely have all it needs for it to survive and even thrive.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Crave™ Calibrachoa belongs to the Lamiaceae family, the genus Callicarpa and the species Bodinieri, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Calibrachoa X Hybrida Crave™ Series (kal-ih-bruh-KOH-uh).
As with other Callicarpa’s, the Crave™ Calibrachoa is a herbaceous plant, which means it will die back to the ground every year.
Growing Region
The Crave™ Calibrachoa is a plant native to the Southern China to Indo-China.
You might be wondering why your Crave™ Calibrachoa’s native region is important. Well, if you know where your plant originally came from, you’ll know which environment conditions it prefers, and with it, knowledge on how to replicate it at home.
With this in mind, the Calibrachoa X Hybrida Crave™ Series will be most used to the heat zones in the 3 – 8 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 6b, 6a, 7b, 7a, 8b, 8a and the ideal climate zone is between 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Crave™ Calibrachoa is a relatively fast grower, which makes things tricky for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But what exactly does this mean for your Crave™ Calibrachoa? How large a pot should you consider, how tall, how wide can it get? Let’s jump in…
The Calibrachoa X Hybrida Crave™ Series can grow up to 4′ – 6′ (120cm – 180cm) in 4′ – 6′ (120cm – 180cm) and 4′ – 6′ (120cm – 180cm) in 4′ – 6′ (120cm – 180cm).
These dimensions make the Crave™ Calibrachoa a relatively large shrub compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
Also, expect it to grow in a wonderful mounding shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 72″ (180cm) free so the Crave™ Calibrachoa can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Crave™ Calibrachoa is a fairly complicated plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a not so straightforward watering schedule and somewhat irregular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Calibrachoa X Hybrida Crave™ Series needs evenly spread moist soil – try to avoid letting the soil dry out.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively average needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Crave™ Calibrachoa in soil with well-draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
But, if you want a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to watering your Crave™ Calibrachoa then you should consider the famous ‘finger’ test. To perform this test, you just need to put your finger in your plant’s soil and determine if it’s moist or not. If it is, then don’t water; if it isn’t, then please do. In any case, this test will allow you to know if your Crave™ Calibrachoa needs or does not need water, every time.
Soil Mix
The Crave™ Calibrachoa’s ideal soil potting mix is made out of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Crave™ Calibrachoa requires partial to full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this shrub will do well as long as you keep it in partial to full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Calibrachoa X Hybrida Crave™ Series in little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to full and direct sun (more 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being a herbaceous plant, the Crave™ Calibrachoa will die back to the ground every year.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the summer (early, mid, late), the fall, and during the winter.
Flowers
In particular, this shrub is well known for its long bloom season and showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Crave™ Calibrachoa produces some beautiful orange, or pink, blue and purple/lavender flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Crave™ Calibrachoa have a beautiful green color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a simple arrangement with a opposite organization in its leaves.
You can expect the leaves from your Calibrachoa X Hybrida Crave™ Series to be around (3-6 inches) in size.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Crave™ Calibrachoa is well known for being able to attract butterflies and birds, so keep that in mind when choosing your plant, as you’ll likely end up finding one or another in your garden.
Additionally, it has a special tolerance for animals like deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Calibrachoa X Hybrida Crave™ Series will be fine.
Garden
Now, let’s talk garden and how your Crave™ Calibrachoa will look best in it.
Most Calibrachoa X Hybrida Crave™ Series owners agree that this shrub will look great in most cottage and rustic gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of prairie and meadow, informal and cottage, and in traditional garden styles.
In particular, the Crave™ Calibrachoa’s best location within your garden is in beds and borders, and in hedges and screens, others use it for landscaping in a container, mass planting, border, edging, or a rock garden.
Conclusion
Even though we covered a lot of care information for your Crave™ Calibrachoa, remember the basics: sunlight, soil and water, as these should be enough to grow a healthy plant at home.
