unknown flowering shrub

robint · #1 (**permalink**) 30-12-2009, 05:13 PM

hi all, happy new year, its got to get better

any ideas about my shrub
i put the description with the image

robint · #2 (**permalink**) 30-12-2009, 05:18 PM

sorry all

not got this fiddly pix posting right yet

the shrub is 1m tall, foliage grey green smells similar to lavender, evergreen, whitish yellow flowers covers the bush, attractively.

close up the foliage has clusters of tiny succulent pinnate spikes

grown in chalk soil south facing like light, currently overpowered by adjacent forsythia, must cut back

any ideas

loripo · #3 (**permalink**) 30-12-2009, 05:22 PM

I think it's Santolina - someone else might be able to give more details

aeshna5 · #4 (**permalink**) 30-12-2009, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loripo

I think it's Santolina - someone else might be able to give more details

Agree, it looks like a pale flowered form of Santolina chamaecyparissus, which is a plant of Mediterranean origin, but various forms exist. Quite a popular garden plant, sometimes used for a low informal hedge.

robint · #5 (**permalink**) 31-12-2009, 04:32 PM

Hi guys, spot on, but id never have found it myself not being skilled in the arts

Santolina pinnata 'Edward Bowles' - shoot

File:Santolina chamaecyparissus.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

it might be more like a pinnata variety because it has a mass of flowers covering the foliage in summer quite sulfurous yellow rather than cream.

I didnt realise it can be clipped and trimmed like a hedge

seems a very hardy perennial, good shrub to have in the right place, needs south facing well drained soil, likes chalk

Im guessing this bush is around 20+ years old

I also have a magnificent well formed holly tree at the back of my garden, but that is very slow growing and is probably 60-70 years old planted after ww2.

cheers happy new year