Features and care
Santolina chamaecyparissus, known as cotton lavender, is a small, aromatic, evergreen, rounded Mediterranean shrub. Its silvery foliage makes it useful in borders, rockeries, gravel gardens, pots and low-water plantings where colour and texture contrast is desired.
It develops dense branches covered in very small, finely cut, felted, greyish-green to silvery leaves. Slender peduncles topped by rounded, golden-yellow flower heads rise above the mound. Flowering takes place between spring and summer, depending on climate and the timing of new growth.
It needs full sun and dry soil with excellent drainage. Watering should be very low and spaced out, cut back almost entirely in winter to keep the crown dry. It reaches 0.3 to 0.6 m and shows medium growth. It adapts to USDA zones 6–9 and tolerates moderate cold when the ground stays aerated. It suits dry environments, with very low tolerance to sustained ambient humidity.
At Ornacom we cultivate each specimen directly, guaranteeing a balanced size and abundant flowering from the first years of planting.
1/1.9 L, 2.5/3 L, 5 L
