Pied Beauty

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)

Glory be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

Praise him.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Foliage Friday: Australian Rosemary

A post from the middle of the annual summer heat wave.

It's hot and humid.  The oppressive heat knocks you back on your heels if you set foot outside your air-conditioned prison.  Gardeners in Houston love to plant chilly silver-blue foliage -- we long for even a slight cooling effect.  Alas!  The hard, cruel fact is that most silver-leafed plants do not thrive here in the humidity.

Fruticosa means shrubby, not fruity!

I'm happy to report that Australian Rosemary or Westringia fruticosa is an exception.  This mild-mannered shrub isn't related to rosemary at all, but shares the pointy-leaved look.  Australian Rosemary has softer leaves and a more open form than the herbal rosemary does.  I cut mine back fairly severely this spring after the frost, and it has returned in perfect form.  I keep it trimmed somewhat to encourage a full look.  Australian Rosemary will perform in the sun, mostly sun or morning sun.  If there's enough light, it will also produce small lavender flowers.  I have mine on the east side of the house, so it doesn't bloom much for me, but it's a nice cool little row of shrubs against that hot, red brick.

This shrub is native to Australia and can reach heights of 4-6 feet, although I think it looks nice when it's kept a little shorter.  Australian Rosemary is a member of the mint family, and though I've never tried it, I understand it's easy to propagate from cuttings.  For me, it's been absolutely immune from insects and disease.  Try it -- it may be good for a degree or two off the heat index!

3 comments:

  1. I'd love to plant it in my Virginia garden. Bet I'm out of luck up here in zone 7b.

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  2. Artemesia Powis Castle does really well for me in SW Houston.

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  3. Not something that I'm familiar with but I like the look of this shrub. With all that heat and humidity, it could do well here too!

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