Re: teucrium fructicans



rachel wrote:

> I bought two, 2-gallon teucrium fruticans last winter, in full bloom, and planted them in
> front of my porch.  The white stems glow nicely at night time when
> you come up the front walkway.
>
> Both shrubs have grown nicely over the year and look healthy.
> However, one has just a few flowers and the other has none whereas
> they were both covered with flowers already at this time last year.
>
> Am I being impatient?  Perhaps  they were in bloom early last year
> because they were trucked in from a wholesale supplier in a warmer
> area?  Or, is there something they may be lacking that is inhibiting
> bloom?
>
> I would very much appreciate anyone's advice.
>
> By the way, what part of the world do these teucrium come from?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Rachel Baker
> Berkeley, CA

Teucrium fruticans is a beautiful, easy to grow Mediterranean shrub deserving more attention
here. It thrives in poor rocky soil where it gets full sun. Sharp drainage is just as
important as the amount of sunlight it gets.

Rachel, is one side of your porch getting a bit more sun than the other? I think that would
account for one plant blooming more than the other.

I saw it in garden after garden in Southern France, fairly sparkling with it's white-backed
leaves and soft blue flowers. They love to shear it into hedges, pyramids, doughnuts, even
baskets and something like a chocolate candy kiss!

Grown naturally it makes a good hedge-row plant, gathering self-seeding plants under its
skirts and providing cover for birds and other beneficials. I've seen it get as large as 8
feet and just as wide. But it takes well to pruning, light and severe.

Heavy clay soil and regular water will be the end of it!

Here's to Teucrium fruticans,  "Bush germander"; a great plant for Mediterranean climate
gardeners!
--
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Jan Smithen,               gardening teacher
                           California Arboretum Foundation
jansmithen@earthlink.net
Sunset zone : 19
USDA zone : 10

Visit the California Arboretum homepage at :
http://www.arboretum.org/
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