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Aloysia virgata

 
Aloysia virgata
Nicely grown, September 2019
almond verbena
Aloysia virgata

Common name almond verbena
Family verbenaceae
Life cycle shrub (Z8-11)
Flowers white (spring-fall)
Size 10-12'
Light sun-light shade
Cultural notes well drained soil

Flowering shrub native to South America, with rough-surfaced grayish-green leaves. Fragrant flowers keep coming through most of the season. Root-hardy to the warmer parts of zone 7, where it acts as a die-back shrub; its habit is that of a true shrub in zones 9 and higher. We picked up a small specimen at Peckerwood Garden, where we had admired a full-grown shrub wafting its fragrance all around; it was blooming on its small frame a little more than a month later. It proceeded to grow quickly, and by early fall had attained significant stature, all covered in its zigzagging flowers. By the next April, it was over 6 feet tall. As expected, it came through the mild winter of 2020 without any problem; on the other hand, the fierce week-long freeze of February 2021 killed off all of the woody growth, leaving the shrub to come back as watersprouts from its base. Unfortunately, the attachment of those sprouts to the woody growth is initially weak, which resulted in all of the new growth being knocked down in a May thunderstorm. Undoubtedly, it will return from this, too.

almond verbena
Newly purchased, May 2019
Aloysia virgata
My, have you grown! May 2020
almond verbena
Returning with soft-fuzzy purplish leaves after top growth was killed by the freeze of 2021
Aloysia virgata
New growth knocked down by high winds

In our garden, this plant grows in the following area: rock garden zone

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