• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Heavy Petal

Gardening for everyone

  • About
  • Journal
  • Small-Space Vegetable Gardens
You are here: Home / Perennials / Peanut butter plant

Peanut butter plant

October 22, 2005 by Andrea Bellamy 9 Comments

Close up of foliage of Peanut butter plant - Melianthus major

To go with your chocolate garden… Melianthus major (peanut butter plant). It’s a weird, dramatic evergreen shrub with large, serrated leaves typically grown for its striking foliage. And yes, it really smells like peanut butter. Hardy to Zone 8, it often dies back after a frost, but leaps back in spring.

Related posts:

Default ThumbnailChocolate-scented plants Default ThumbnailPowerful Plants for Low-Maintenance Areas Pink rose in full bloomEnglish country meets West Coast: A peek inside a Vancouver plant lover’s playground

Filed Under: Perennials

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Catherine Jevans says

    January 24, 2009 at 7:29 am

    My melianthus major has suffered from the frost – how do i/ can i rescue it ? It was thriving in a pot on our south facing decking and now looks rather sad.

  2. bill says

    March 8, 2014 at 11:57 pm

    There are obviously several plants that smell like peanut butter but the one I’m familiar with that the leaves smell just like peanut butter are Datura (jimsonweed). It’s very poison.

  3. Laurie Marrs says

    February 18, 2021 at 2:23 pm

    The peanut butter plant which I grow in my south facing flower bed is Melianthus major, native to South Africa. It usually dies back after below zero temperatures and some snow and frost, but it regrows in Spring. (I live in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. This year it grew to about 4 feet tall.

  4. Andrea Bellamy says

    February 19, 2021 at 11:06 am

    It’s such a fun one, isn’t it Laurie? I love its foliage and unusual smell!

  5. Tracie Nadiger says

    April 2, 2021 at 9:29 am

    I have been told this plant deters deer. Have you had any experience with this.? Would love to incorporate in our blueberry garden if this is the case. Also live in beautiful Victoria BC

  6. Andrea Bellamy says

    April 7, 2021 at 10:24 pm

    Hi Tracie – I don’t have first-hand experience with Melianthus major’s deer resistance, thankfully, but reliable resources do label it deer resistant.

  7. sharon houser says

    July 12, 2021 at 10:04 am

    I am in NW Washington state, not too far from BC. Mine is over 6 feet tall but leggy with leaves starting at 3-4 feet up. I am thinking of cutting that part back in the fall but I would be sad if it didn’t come back. HELP! Any advice would be appreciated.

  8. Patti Breidenbach says

    August 11, 2021 at 8:50 am

    I live in a deer infested town, beautiful to look at but deadly on plants! Nothing planted is sacred but they have not touched my Melianthus plant since I planted it two years ago.

  9. Essence says

    October 28, 2021 at 6:16 pm

    My Peanut butter plant leaves are starting to turn brown one of my moms friends gave it to me how do I keep it from dying

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

My latest book

The bright, illustrated cover of Small-Space Vegetable Gardens
Small-Space Vegetable Gardens by Andrea Bellamy

newsletter

Subscribe to receive occasional email updates (I promise never to spam you!)

Reader Favourites

Round, cookie-dough-like balls of clay and seed

How to make seed balls

Colourful quinoa plants in bloom

Would you grow your own grains?

This proves it. Chickens are hot.

Categories

  • Annuals
  • Blogging
  • Bulbs and Tubers
  • Composting
  • Critters and wildlife
  • Events
  • Garden Design
  • Garden Tours
  • Gardens to Visit
  • Green Gardening & Living
  • Holiday
  • How To
  • Indoors
  • Inspiration
  • Miscellaneous
  • My garden
  • Outdoor Living
  • Pacific Northwest
  • Perennials
  • Ponds & Water Gardening
  • Raving and Whining
  • Resistance is fertile
  • Resources
  • Retail Therapy
  • Shrubs & Trees
  • Small-Space Vegetable Gardens
  • Sugar Snaps and Strawberries
  • Uncategorized
  • Veggies & Edibles
  • WTF?
  • Home
  • About

Copyright © 2023 · Infinity Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in