Silvery, finely cut evergreen leaves form a low rounded mound, topped in early summer by small yellow pompom flowers: this is santolina (Santolina chamaecyparissus), the cotton lavender of Mediterranean gardens, used for rocky ground, edges and dried bouquets. Give it poor, dry, sunny ground and it asks for almost nothing in return.
| Name | Santolina |
|---|---|
| Family | Asteraceae |
| Type | shrub, sub-shrub |
| Height | 20 to 24 inches (50 to 60 cm) |
| Exposure | sunny |
| Soil | ordinary |
| Foliage | evergreen |
| Flowering | early summer |
Sometimes called cotton lavender, its blooming is worthwhile, too.
Santolina be grown in rocky, dry soil that is poor and arid, and it can also be grown in pots, garden boxes or containers to decorate a patio, deck or balcony.
Santolina demands minimal care and maintenance, it is a plant that is very easy to grow.
You could thus not worry about it at all, but there are a few tips that can make it even nicer.
Santolina, like lavender and rosemary, can grow woody, sparse and leggy in time. It’s possible to rejuvenate your cotton lavender in less than half an hour’s work.
First, deal with dead wood. Identify in your woody santolina the older branches. They’re either “on the rise” or “dying back”.
Generally, cut all “dying back” branches back to the trunk or to the nearest junction to a healthier branch. This portion of the pruning you can perform any time in spring, summer or fall. In winter, it’s sometimes harder to tell whether a branch is vigorous or not.
Second, after removing dead and dying wood, wait for fall. That’s the best time to perform “maintenance pruning”: shorten the greenery by half to trigger branching out more flowers in the following spring.
The species and the named varieties differ mostly in flower colour, leaf colour and size. Here is what each one brings to the garden.
| Variety | Distinctive feature | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|
| Santolina chamaecyparissus (cotton lavender) | The best-known species, bright yellow flowers over silvery evergreen leafage | Rocky ground, edges and the sides of alleyways |
| ‘Lemon Queen’ | Ivory-coloured pompom flowers instead of bright yellow | Beds and edges, and dried flower bouquets |
| ‘Small-Ness’ | Very compact habit | Tiny pots, garden boxes and containers on a patio, deck or balcony |
| ‘Lemon Fizz’ | Bright yellow leafage rather than silver | Foliage contrast in a Mediterranean garden |
Whichever you pick, the growing requirements are the same: sun, poor dry soil and very little care.
Often used to landscape rocky ground, decorate edges or the sides of alleyways, santolina offers us beautiful summer blooming.
It’s typical of Mediterranean gardens and the bright yellow flowers offer a beautiful contrast to the famous lavender plant.
This sub-shrub is melliferous, particularly pleasing to bees, and it is easy to grow and only requires minimal care.
Its flower appears in summer and is humble but very interesting, especially if you want to prepare beautiful dried flower bouquets.
The most famous, Cotton lavender, is a species called Santolina chamaecyparissus
There are quite a few varieties to chose from nowadays:
It has medicinal uses, too: oil produced from the plant is used as a de-worming agent, and the flower is drunk in the form of herbal tea for its stimulating properties.
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Santolina naturally repels clothing moths, it is quite effective if you prepare small bouquets, dry them, and then store them with your clothes in the drawers. In lavender wands, you use only the flower, but for santolina leaves and branches work well, too.
it’s only June but my santolina, I suspect through lack of proper pruning has become very leggy and untidy. Do I have to wait until autumn before I cut it back?
Well, you can deadhead already as soon as the flowers are wilted away – just cut them back to the stem where it emerged from.
Dead wood: you can identify in your woody santolina a few of the older branches. Typically, they’re either “on the rise” or “dying back”. Those that are “on the rise” have a lot more growth at their tips and ends, and bore more flowers. Those that are “dying back” are either completely dead already or have more dead portions, scraggly growth, and corky bark.
Generally, you’d cut the “dying back” branches back to the trunk or to the nearest junction to a healthier branch. This portion of the pruning you can perform any time, so go ahead and do it during your next round through the garden.
Once that’s done, best wait for fall to get the “maintenance pruning” done: shorten all the greenery by half, this will lead to more branching out and produces more flowers next spring.
If it’s really woody, you can go ahead and try the same techniques you’d use to deal with old woody lavender, the “regular” species. It includes hard pruning and then maintenance pruning.