I got this tiny shrub at LSU's Hilltop Arboretum, with a bunch of tiny (about half an inch tall) seedlings sprouting in its pot as lagnia...Read Moreppe. (Note: Some animal ate the seedlings not long after I wrote this.) This hybrid plant has an interesting backstory. As Univ. of Georgia's site says, "This fascinating shrub mint was discovered in the South Carolina garden of Woodlanders Nursery by the founder, Robert McIntosh...an obvious hybrid between US natives Clinopodium [or Satureja] georgianum and a nearby native Conradina [canescens]."
UGA invented the hybrid species name Clinadina. (Get it? CLINopodium + conrADINA.)
That site continues: "The hybrid makes an 18" tall x 2' wide clump of upright woody stems clothed with narrow, glossy green foliage that smells like strong peppermint... A well-drained winter soil and a bright sunny spot is essential."
The flower is strange, with four yellow petals, looking like a yellow butterfly. Once it falls off, two round green leaves appear and close over the remnant of the flower like a venus fly trap. Then this green contraption turns dark brown and eventually falls off, with a seed inside. The seedlings come true-to-parent. An absolutely fascinating plant, and it's small size and contorted shape make it essentially a readymade bonsai. I could see it catching on big-time in the bonsai world. (Note: I'm unsure how the hybridization of two plants with lavender flowers would create a plant with yellow flowers... And my plant has no smell whatsoever, though the animal that ate the seedlings surely smelled something tasty.)
I got this tiny shrub at LSU's Hilltop Arboretum, with a bunch of tiny (about half an inch tall) seedlings sprouting in its pot as lagnia...Read More