San Marcos Growers LogoSan Marcos Growers
New User
Wholesale Login
Enter Password
Home Products Purchase Gardens About Us Resources Contact Us
Nursery Closure
Search Utilities
Plant Database
Search Plant Name
Detail Search Avanced Search Go Button
Search by size, origins,
details, cultural needs
Website Search Search Website GO button
Search for any word
Site Map
Retail Locator
Plant Listings

PLANT TYPE
PLANT GEOGRAPHY
PLANT INDEX
ALL PLANT LIST
PLANT IMAGE INDEX
PLANT INTROS
SPECIALTY CROPS
NEW  2026 PLANTS

LIVE AVAILABILITY
  for FEBRUARY


Natives at San Marcos Growers
Succulents at San Marcos Growers
 Weather Station

 
Products > Coleonema album
 
Coleonema album - White Breath of Heaven

Note: This plant is no longer in stock. This is an archive page preserved for informational use.  
Image of Coleonema album
 
Habit and Cultural Information
Category: Shrub
Family: Rutaceae (Citrus)
Origin: South Africa (Africa)
Evergreen: Yes
Flower Color: White
Bloomtime: Winter/Spring
Synonyms: [Diosma alba]
Height: 4-5 feet
Width: 4-5 feet
Exposure: Sun or Shade
Seaside: Yes
Irrigation (H2O Info): Medium Water Needs
Winter Hardiness: 25-30° F
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.

 
San Marcos Growers, established in 1979, closed for regular business on December 23rd 2025 as the property will be developed for affordable housing.
The gates are closed but we will be open by appointment only as we liquidate remaining plants, supplies and equipment. Our remaining plants are listed on our Live Inventory Page.