Flower developing early wilt (5,4)
I believe the answer is:
water lily
'flower' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'developing early wilt' is the wordplay.
'developing' indicates anagramming the letters (letters developed into a new form).
'early'+'wilt'='earlywilt'
'earlywilt' with letters rearranged gives 'WATER-LILY'.
(Other definitions for water lily that I've seen before include "Aquatic plant with showy flowers" , "Pond plant" , "Plant painted many times by Monet" .)