Plant in full sun to part day sun and irrigate very little if at all once established - truly a drought tolerant plant! Cold hardy to 0 °F or slightly below and useful in USDA Zones 5b to 10. Tolerates seaside conditions and is resistant to animal predation. This plant does particularly well in coastal California garden with little or no supplemental water - in situations such as this a flowing carpet effect of foliage, under 1 foot tall, can develop. A great plant for a formal edging or allowed to flow for an informal look.

Santolina chamaecyparissus is native to dry banks and rocky slopes in the western and central Mediterranean region from Portugal to Yugoslavia. The name for the Genus comes from the Latin phrase 'sanctum linum' which means "holy flax", a name applied to one of the green species of Santolina for its medicinal qualities and the specific epithet given to this plant by Linnaeus in 1753 comes from the Greek word 'chamae' which means "dwarf", "low-growing" or "growing on the ground" and 'kyparissos', a word for "cypress" which combine to mean a "dwarf or ground cypress". We have grown this great plant since our nursery first opened in 1979 and also grow Green Santolina, Santolina rosmarinifolia and Santolina neapolitana 'Lemon Queen'. 

The information displayed on this page about Santolina chamaecyparissus is based on the research we have conducted about it in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about this plant as it grows in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant have performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we have received from others and welcome hearing from anyone with information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information that will aid others to better grow it.