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Family: Myrtaceae
Native to: southeast Australia and Tasmania at high altitudes
Dimensions: Shrub to 8 - 12', but variable in size/habit, some forms can achieve small tree size (to 25') in protected position.
Cold resistance: Variable, but the forms we sell can handle 5 - 10°F
Drought resistance: adequate west of the Cascades, not for desert
Key Features: evergreen with attractive foliage, aromatic, appealing new growth buds, white flowers, attracts pollinators, coarse stringy bark when mature, easy to grow
Uses: extremely versatile tolerating sun or partial shade, specimen plant, hedges and screens, tolerates shearing, coastal plantings, deer resistant, tolerates urban conditions, poor drainage, any soil.
Description:
Here's a plant for those of you who like your tea woolly. This shrub has small woolly leaves and showy white late spring flowers, and an appealing, upright but somewhat irregular growth habit. Though easily amenable to pruning and shaping, left to itself it will usually reach a height of 10-12’ tall and can eventually achieve small tree stature in favorable situations. The primary selection of woolly tea tree which I sell has been going around the Seattle area for many years, where it has been a long-time fixture at the Carl S. English Gardens at the Ballard Locks. Sometimes I also offer a selection from Fairmeadow Nursery in Olympia that endured 6°F in December 2009, and has more of a spreading habit rather than growing tall. This species is worthy of much wider use in gardens, being attractive in all seasons and deer-resistant. Vigorous and easy to grow on any soil, it will handle temperatures down to around 5 - 10°F.
The purple leaf form (sometimes avaialble) has glossy green foliage that turns purple during winter or under stress. It is shy to flower but the foliage is great. It is a bit less cold-hardy than the other forms we sell (to about 12 - 15°F) and is suitable for planting in protected or coastal gardens. It may be another species, but I will continue to sell it under the present name until further information comes to light.
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