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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.
This information about Trichostema parishii displayed on this web page is based on research we have conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations we have made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how our crops have performed in containers in the nursery field. Where appropriate, we will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant.
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