This woody-stemmed rampant perennial is often grown to consolidate loose soil along U.S. roads. Its toothed fleshy leaves and layers of ...Read Moretangled stems create a wonderful weed-proof ground cover, covered with white, pink, or purple blue-centred flowers, three inches across.
In the U.K., this plant is hardy to about -4 C in ideal conditions, and is only grown in coastal areas of the southwest, where they cover the cliffs, e.g. Falmouth and the Scilly Isles. Even here most plants get killed in severe winters. I grew several colour forms of this plant, which grew to ten feet across in two years. They suvived -4C, but succumbed to -5C.
A number of cultivars, such as 'Tresco (Nairobi) Purple' and 'Superbum' are probably derived from this plant. This species, along with O. ecklonis, barberae, and jucundum are probably the parents of the numerous perennial hybrids available today.
This woody-stemmed rampant perennial is often grown to consolidate loose soil along U.S. roads. Its toothed fleshy leaves and layers of ...Read More