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Santolina rosmarinifolia (Green Santolina) - A neat rounded aromatic evergreen shrub that typically grows 1 to 2 feet tall and as wide but when happy can get a little larger. It has deep green narrow leaves that are pinnately divided into tiny segments. The pale-yellow rounded composite flowers appear above the foliage in the mid to late spring.
Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil and irrigate only occasionally. It is drought tolerant and hardy to 0 °F or slightly below. Though often used in knot gardens and trimmed to keep low, consideration should be made to its requirements of good drainage and careful irrigation practices. Overwatering of this plant or plantings in poor draining soils often result in root rot, but a well-established plant thrives with little to no supplemental irrigation and be very attractive in the garden. Shear lightly in early spring to keep dense and dead head spent flowers. An attractive and useful garden plant.
Santolina rosmarinifolia hails from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) into Southern France. 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 Carl von Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum in 1753 means foliage like a rosemary. This species is sometimes listed as Santolina ericoides, an older synonym for Lavender Cotton which is the gray Santolina chamaecyparissus. It is also sometimes referred to as Santolina virens (or Santolina viridis) and sometimes as Santolina pinnata. This is confusing since Santolina virens, from Europe to Caucasus, and Santolina rosmarinifolia, from the Iberian Peninsula, are both considered valid names for a green foliaged Santolina by Kew Botanic Gardens.
Though plants in cultivation in California may actually be one of these other species, we continue to use the name long established for the grown here so not to confuse customers and staff. We have grown this great plant since our nursery first opened in 1979 and we also grow the gray Lavender Cotton, Santolina chamaecyparissus and Santolina neapolitana 'Lemon Queen'.
The information displayed on this page about Santolina rosmarinifolia 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.
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