Mature size & growth rate

How big does Yesterday-Today-and-Tomorrow (Brunfelsia pauciflora) get?

Also called Yesterday-today-and-tomorrow, Morning-noon-and-night, Kiss-me-quick, Lady-of-the-night, Franciscan rain tree.

More about yesterday-today-and-tomorrow

About Yesterday-Today-and-Tomorrow

Brunfelsia pauciflora · also called Yesterday-today-and-tomorrow, Morning-noon-and-night · flowering

Yesterday-today-and-tomorrow (Brunfelsia pauciflora) is an evergreen tropical shrub whose fragrant flowers fade from purple to lavender to white over three days. Give it bright, slightly filtered light, consistently moist acidic soil, warmth and high humidity. The ASPCA lists it as toxic to dogs, cats and horses, so keep it away from pets.

Mature size: Typically 3-8 ft (1-2.5 m) tall and wide as a shrub outdoors, reaching up to 10 ft (3 m) in ideal tropical conditions; stays smaller and easily kept to 2-4 ft when container-grown or pruned. Dwarf 'Compacta' forms stay more compact.

Watch for — Few or no flowers: Too little light or excess nitrogen drives leafy growth at the expense of blooms. Give brighter light, use a balanced feed and allow a cooler winter rest to set spring buds.

Indoor size vs how big it gets in the wild

Yesterday-Today-and-Tomorrow is a tree at heart. Indoors a pot and your ceiling keep it to typically 3-8 ft (1-2.5 m) tall and wide as a shrub outdoors, reaching up to 10 ft (3 m) in ideal tropical conditions, but in the ground it is a different scale of plant entirely (stays smaller and easily kept to 2-4 ft when container-grown or pruned. dwarf 'compacta' forms stay more compact.). Indoors and in a pot, expect typically 3-8 ft (1-2.5 m) tall and wide as a shrub outdoors, reaching up to 10 ft (3 m) in ideal tropical conditions. In the ground with no restriction it is a completely different plant — stays smaller and easily kept to 2-4 ft when container-grown or pruned. dwarf 'compacta' forms stay more compact. — which is why the pot, the light and the pruning matter so much for the size you actually end up with.

It gains real height on a trunk or main stem, adding a tier of leaves a year and eventually reaching for the ceiling — this is a plant you grow up, not out.

Growth rate and years to mature

Yesterday-Today-and-Tomorrow is a slow grower. Realistically, expect a decade or more — slow growers like this add only a few centimetres a year, so expect 8-15+ years to reach their indoor ceiling. Its feeding profile backs this up: feed during spring and summer only with a balanced water-soluble fertiliser (such as 10-10-10): full strength monthly for garden plants, or diluted to half strength every two weeks for container plants. avoid excess nitrogen, which favours leaves over flowers. an acid-formulated feed helps maintain low soil ph.

Want this turned into the right next pot at the right moment? The pot size calculator and the yesterday-today-and-tomorrow repotting guide cover when and how much to size up — pot size is one of the biggest levers on how fast yesterday-today-and-tomorrow grows.

How to keep yesterday-today-and-tomorrow smaller

You are not stuck with the maximum size. For yesterday-today-and-tomorrow specifically, these are the levers, in order of impact:

The decisive tool is the secateurs: yesterday-today-and-tomorrow can be topped (cut the main growing tip) to cap its height and force a bushier, shorter shape.
Keeping it deliberately pot-bound in a snug container slows the whole plant and limits ultimate size.
Prune in spring so it heals fast; remove the tallest leader back to a node to reset the height.
Good news: slow growth means topping it once buys you years before it needs doing again.

The keep-it-smaller method, step by step

Pick the new height. Decide how tall you want yesterday-today-and-tomorrow and find a leaf node or branch point just below that.
Top the main stem. Cut the main growing tip cleanly just above that node in spring; this permanently caps the height and forces side branches.
Keep the pot snug. Avoid jumping to a much bigger pot — a slightly restricted rootball keeps the whole plant smaller.
Maintain the shape. Prune back the tallest new leaders each spring to hold it at the height you chose.

How to grow yesterday-today-and-tomorrow bigger or faster

If you want it to fill the space sooner, push the conditions rather than hoping — for yesterday-today-and-tomorrow the accelerators are:

It already wants the bright light it needs; warmth, a yearly pot-up and spring-summer feed are the accelerators.
Pot up a size every year or two while young; restricted roots are the main thing holding height back.
Feed regularly through the growing season and keep it warm — height comes from sustained good conditions.

Light is almost always the ceiling. The yesterday-today-and-tomorrow light requirements page covers exactly how bright a spot it needs to grow at its potential instead of stalling.

When yesterday-today-and-tomorrow outgrows the room (or the pot)

"Too big" usually arrives as one of these signs for yesterday-today-and-tomorrow:

The top leaves pressing against or bent by the ceiling — the classic "this is now too tall indoors" sign.
It has to be moved away from a light source it has literally outgrown.
Roots filling the largest pot you can reasonably keep indoors — at that point it is top-or-prune or move it outside (if hardy).

If it is the pot rather than the room, it is a repotting job, not a goodbye — see the yesterday-today-and-tomorrow repotting guide. If you want more of this plant instead of a bigger one, the yesterday-today-and-tomorrow propagation guide turns prunings into new plants.

Yesterday-Today-and-Tomorrow size — frequently asked questions

How big does yesterday-today-and-tomorrow get?

Yesterday-Today-and-Tomorrow reaches typically 3-8 ft (1-2.5 m) tall and wide as a shrub outdoors, reaching up to 10 ft (3 m) in ideal tropical conditions when grown indoors, and far larger where it grows unrestricted (stays smaller and easily kept to 2-4 ft when container-grown or pruned. dwarf 'compacta' forms stay more compact.). It gains real height on a trunk or main stem, adding a tier of leaves a year and eventually reaching for the ceiling — this is a plant you grow up, not out.

Is yesterday-today-and-tomorrow slow or fast growing?

Yesterday-Today-and-Tomorrow is a slow grower. Expect a decade or more — slow growers like this add only a few centimetres a year, so expect 8-15+ years to reach their indoor ceiling. Yesterday-Today-and-Tomorrow is a tree at heart. Indoors a pot and your ceiling keep it to typically 3-8 ft (1-2.5 m) tall and wide as a shrub outdoors, reaching up to 10 ft (3 m) in ideal tropical conditions, but in the ground it is a different scale of plant entirely (stays smaller and easily kept to 2-4 ft when container-grown or pruned. dwarf 'compacta' forms stay more compact.).

How long does yesterday-today-and-tomorrow take to reach full size?

Roughly a decade or more — slow growers like this add only a few centimetres a year, so expect 8-15+ years to reach their indoor ceiling. Light, pot size and feeding move that timeline more than anything else.

How do I keep yesterday-today-and-tomorrow smaller?

The decisive tool is the secateurs: yesterday-today-and-tomorrow can be topped (cut the main growing tip) to cap its height and force a bushier, shorter shape. Keeping it deliberately pot-bound in a snug container slows the whole plant and limits ultimate size. Prune in spring so it heals fast; remove the tallest leader back to a node to reset the height. Good news: slow growth means topping it once buys you years before it needs doing again.

How can I make yesterday-today-and-tomorrow grow bigger or faster?

It already wants the bright light it needs; warmth, a yearly pot-up and spring-summer feed are the accelerators. Pot up a size every year or two while young; restricted roots are the main thing holding height back. Feed regularly through the growing season and keep it warm — height comes from sustained good conditions.