Friday, September 24, 2010

Paint that desert!











Fallugia paradoxa, what a name! I sometimes can't resist a plant because of it's Latin name and how it roles off the tongue. Apache Plume, Turpentine Bush are a couple of common names this plant has.
This is fantastic and fascinating plant for a garden that is on the dry side. A a small to medium sized bush that has ghostly stems, fine foliage and glaring white flowers with sometimes a hint of pink in them. Now, yeah, it is a blooming machine once you establish it, but the most remarkable thing about this shrub is the when it goes to seed. This is where is earns the name of 'plume.' This shrub is all about the seed heads. I would liken them to the seed head of the Clematis, or that of Geum triflorum. Feathery and pink, wisping in the wind they create a glorious multi season interest to this once overlooked plant.

The leaves have a fine textural quality, or as I like to tell people quillity, as they are dark and small and lace-like. And when I say small I mean just that. This plant knows how to conserve it's own resources.

This is a glorious native of the American Southwest. Xeric, and grows 4-6 feet high and just as wide.

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