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Leptospermum scoparium 'Helene Strybing' (New Zealand Tea Tree) - This evergreen shrub has an open, upright and arching growth habit (to 10 feet tall with equal spread) with narrow small needle-like green leaves that are sometimes tinged with pink, especially during winter. It has larger flowers than other Leptospermum scopariums - noted to be about the size of a US quarter (25 cent piece). These flowers are single, deep pink with a dark center and wavy margined petals that appear in a very strong flush in the early spring and often a second flowering in the fall.
Plant in full sun to part sun in a well-draining soil where it is drought tolerant once established and cold hardy down to about 20 degrees F. Leptospermum scoparium cultivars are unforgiving to drying out so make sure to irrigate young plants to get them established before backing off watering. These plants are beautiful in the garden and make good cut flowers when large branches are cut.
Leptospermum scoparium is found throughout New Zealand and particularly common on the drier east coasts of the North and South Islands, and in Australia in Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales. Fossil evidence suggests Leptospermum scoparium originated in Australia and migrated to New Zealand via long-distance seed dispersal long ago. The genus name is derived from the Greek words 'leptos' meaning “thin”, “fine” or “slender” and 'sperma' meaning “seed”, referring to the thin brown seeds of the genus and the specific epithet is an adjective meaning "broom-like" or "pertaining to a broom" that is derived from the Latin word 'scopa', the word for a broom or brush made of twigs and is in reference to this species typical upright twiggy or broom-like structure. Most of the showy cultivated selections are of New Zealand origin. Of the cultivars we have grown, only Leptospermum scoparium 'Star Carpet' is of Australian origin.
The cultivar 'Helene Strybing' was introduced by the Strybing Arboretum in about 1949 after reportedly was found being found among a group of Leptospermum scoparium 'Keatleyi' seedlings propagated by arboretum staff and was selected out for its unusually large single flowers and named to honor the person most responsible for the arboretum's existence. Golden Gate Park Botanical Garden had been originally proposed during the 1890s but funding didn't become available until 1926 when Helene Strybing, the widow of the wealthy San Francisco investor and landowner C.H. Strybing (1821-1895), offered the funds to start building it with planting beginning in 1937. The Strybing Arboretum (now called the San Francisco Botanic Garden) officially opened in May 1940.
Leptospermum scoparium 'Helene Strybing' won an Award of Merit from the California Horticultural Society in 1966. We grew this plant from 1980 until 2007 - still one of the best but so many other nurseries were growing it while we did and with the decline in popularity in popularity of tea trees, we decided we had to move on.
The information displayed on this page about Leptospermum scoparium 'Helene Strybing' 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.
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