|
Trichostema parishii (Mountain Bluecurls) - This attractive evergreen plant is like a diminutive form of Woolly Blue Curls (T. lanatum) that only grows to 2 to 3 feet tall by 3 to 4 feet wide with narrow dark green leaves that are less aromatic than T. lanatum and with blue flowers that are less congested and hardly wooly.
Plant in full to nearly full sun - works in with just summer afternoon sun. Plant in very well-drained soil and withhold summer irrigation.
Trichostema parishii is native to yellow pine forests and Joshua tree woodlands from 2,000 to 6,000 ft in mountainous areas of eastern San Diego County north into the San Jacinto Mountains, San Gabriel Mountains and Transverse Ranges in Santa Barbara County.
The genus Trichostema based on the type species Trichostema dichotomum from Virginia, was published in Linnaeus’ Corollarium Genera Plantarum in 1737 with the name credited to the Dutch botanist Johan Frederik Gronovius. The name for the genus is from the Latin words 'trichos' meaning "hair" and 'stema' meaning "stamens" in reference to its long hair-like stamens and the specific epithet honors self-trained botanist and plant collector Samuel Bonsall Parish (1838-1928) who with his brother William botanized and collected extensively in the southwestern deserts and later became the honorary curator of the University of California Herbarium and a lecturer and professor at Stanford University. Another listed common name for this plant is Parish's Romero, which comes from the similarities between Rosemary (Romero) and Trichostema lanatum, that were noted during the Portola expedition in 1769. We grew this plant in 2007 and 2008 when seed of this species was inadvertently shipped to us as Trichostema lanatum - a nice plant but not as showy as the larger Wooly Bluecurls, Trichostema lanatum.
The information displayed on this page about Trichostema parishii is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
|
