Plant in full sun to light shade and irrigate occasionally to very little - a water conserving plant but keeps better color and remains more dense when given occasional spring and summer irrigation but this variety, unlike other Westringia, has also been found to tolerate wet soils as well and is suited to most soil types including sandy and heavy clay soils. Hardy to about 20° F and useful in USDA Zones 9-10. It responds well to pruning and so can make an excellent and attractive dense low hedge or, because of its dense rounded habit, be planted more widely spaced in mass for a unique mass planting. It is useful for coastal plantings where it can tolerate wind and sea spray and because of its tolerance for wet soils it can actually be a component in a bioswale planting - it is the only Westringia cultivar known to tolerate this situation.

The species, Westringia fruticosa, is native to the coast of New South Wales where it can be seen hugging the cliffs and growing near the sand on the beach. The name for the genus was given to it by Sir James Edward Smith, an English botanist and founder of the Linnaean Society in 1788. The name honors Dr. Johan Peter Westring (1753-1833), a botanist and physician to King Charles XIII of Sweden who was a student of Linnaeus. The specific epithet comes from the Latin word 'frutico' meaning "to put forth shoots" or "become bushy", likely in reference to the dense bushiness of this species.

Westringia fruticosa Grey Box was a selection made by Graham Brown of NuFlora, a cooperative venture with the University of Sydney, and is the result of a breeding program from 2004 to 2009 at their facility in Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia. It was selected in October 2009 for its ball-shaped very compact growth habit, gray foliage color and white flowers. The cultivar was named 'WES04' with an application for Plant Breeders Rights in May 2011 and its U.S. Plant Patent in July 2015. This plant is marketed by Ozbreed Plants in Australia and Dig Plants in the U.S. It was awarded Plant of the Year in 2015 by the Nursery & Garden Industry of Australia.

For more information on the species see our listing for Westringia fruticosa. We also grow several cultivars of this species including the variegated formsWestringia fruticosa 'Morning Light' and Westringia fruticosa 'Smokey' and the low growing Westringia fruticosa Mundi and very low growing Westringia fruticosa Low Horizon, as well as the hybrids Westringia 'Wynyabbie Gem', Westringia 'Wynyabbie Highlight' and Westringia Blue Gem. 

This information about Westringia fruticosa Grey Box ['WES04'] PP25,675 displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.