Family Verbenaceae
Originating from South America.
- Carpets of aromatic perennial foliage create a lush backdrop for the flowers.
- Intense lavender pink pollinator-attracting flowers are borne all summer long.
- Half-hardy stems will survive mild winters, otherwise plant as a floriferous annual.
Few plants can match the combination of this plant’s deep green foliage and intensely coloured flowers. The stems and foliage are highly aromatic and spread horizontally, running riot amongst taller species.
Its preference for full sun and free-draining soil make it the perfect foil for Mediterranean-style planting schemes with Yucca rostrata, Brahea armata and Chamaerops humilis, where its contrasting compliment their silver, architectural foliage.
Deliciously richly coloured flowers of lavender pink, with deeper cerise tones, appear as dense carpets of blooms, much loved by bees, butterflies, and any passing pollinator. They last right through summer and autumn, until the first frosts, making it worth growing as an annual if a harsh winter does kill the plant.
This half-hardy ground-covering perennial is easy to grow in all but heavy wet soil, it produces the most flowers in full sun and can survive mild winters if cut back to around 20 cm of older growth and mulched. A plant brought through the winter using this method will grow away with great vigour the following season from an established root system.
Height and spread after 1 – 2 years 30cm x 50cm.
