Plant in full to part sun in a well-drained soil. Water regularly. Hardy only to a light frost - this plant is best put under protection when temperatures drop much below freezing. The quite distinctive caudex makes this plant a great addition to a container succulent garden or as an interesting bonsai plant.

Plectranthus ernstii comes from rocky slopes from the summer rainfall, near frost-free regions of northern Eastern Cape to the Southern KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa. The name for the genus comes from the Greek words 'plektron' meaning a "spur" and 'anthos' meaning "flower" in reference to the spur that is found at the base of the corolla tube of the type species Plectranthus fruticosus. Though often found under the name Plectranthus ernestii (we long spelled it this way!), the correct spelling for the specific epithet is "ernstii". This name given to this plant by Leslie Edward Wastell Codd to honor Ernst van Jaarsveld, now retired horticulturist at the South African Royal Botanic Garden at Kirstenbosch and author of the book The South African Plectranthus who discovered this plant in 1977 growing in the Oribi Gorge in southern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We thank our friend John Bleck was bringing this wonderful small succulent Plectranthus to our attention. We first began growing it in 2006 but discontinued selling it in 2014, though we still have this very fine plant in our own collection. 

The information about Plectranthus ernstii that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.