Santolina chamaecyparissus ‘Nana’, also known as Dwarf Lavender Cotton, is a stunning evergreen shrub with dense, delicate, silvery grey-green foliage and small button-like bright yellow flowers that bloom in summer. The foliage is aromatic and gives off a fresh scent like camphor. This scent also doubles as a repellent to insects, so it will deter pests from hovering around the garden.
Landscape uses
Excellent for Mediterranean, coastal, gravel and rock gardens. We like using Santolina chamaecyparissus ‘Nana’ in garden beds, borders, and containers. We underplanted an incredible Melaleuca lanceolata (Moonah Tree) with Santolina chamaecyparissus ‘Nana’ and Astelia chathamica ‘Silver Spears’ at our Blairgowrie project.
How to plant
Plant in full sun and dry-medium, well-drained soil. Santolina actually prefers poor, dry soil, so rich or wet soil should be avoided. You can expect Santolina to grow to approx. 60cm tall with a spread of 60cm – 90cm. We recommend spacing pots approximately 60cm – 90cm apart when planting.
Care and maintenance
Unpruned plants can become sparse and woody in the centre – to help control this, cut your plant back yearly before spring growth begins. You can trim as needed around the edges or cut the whole plant back. Once the flowers fade, you can clip off the flowering shoots.
