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Coleonema album (White Breath of Heaven) - A light, wispy evergreen shrub that grows to 4 to 5 feet tall by as wide with small soft needle-like fragrant foliage that densely clothes the many branches. From light pinkish buds, the small solitary white flowers crowd the tips of the branches in the winter and spring with such profusion that the plant looks like a cloud of starry white flowers. These flowers have a honey like fragrance.
Plant in full sun to part shade with regular water. It is hardy to about 25 degrees F and tolerates near seaside planting. A great plant for and informal short hedge or near a pathway where its aromatic foliage can be brushed. It is a good filler in floral arrangements and in the garden the flowers attract bees and butterflies.
Coleonema album is found naturally growing in coastal areas from Saldanha Bay to the Cape Peninsula in South Africa with the furthest inland locations only about 12 miles from the ocean near the base of the southern end of the Bredasdorp Mountains. The name for the genus come from the Greek words 'koleos' meaning "a sheath" and 'nema' meaning "a thread" or "filament" because the filaments of the sterile stamens are enclosed within a fold of the petals. The specific epithet is the from the Latin word 'albus' meaning white in reference to the flower color. This plant was long called Diosma in the trade and other common names include Cape May and White Confetti Bush. We also grow the pink flowering species Coleonema pulchellum, the darker pink flowering cultivar Coleonema pulchellum 'Dark Pink', a compact form of this species Coleonema pulchellum 'Compact Form' and a golden foliage form Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold'.
The information displayed on this page about Coleonema album 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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