TOUGH PLANT FAMILY NO. 4
LAMIACEAE – THE SALVIA FAMILY
READERS of this article may recall my May 2019 article celebrating many species and cultivars of the tough Salvia genus.
The current trend of warmer temperatures and inconsistent rainfall in Eastern Australia means that salvias, among others, will be more heavily relied upon by gardeners to keep gardens looking reasonably verdant and colourful among otherwise drab, desiccated landscapes.
Salvia is actually the largest genus (containing around 900 species) of the Lamiaceae family.
Many gardeners may not realise that many of our garden herbs belong to this family, including rosemary, thyme, lavender, mint, marjoram, hyssop and oregano.
Many of these herbs originate from regions around the Mediterranean, belonging to what Europeans call “garrigue”, describing the tough, resilient plants inhabiting rocky hillsides and enduring hot, dry summers.
I won’t dwell on genera such as Lavandula (lavender), Origanum (marjoram and oregano), Thymus (thyme) and Salvia (rosemary and salvias) today, as I’ve covered them pretty well in previous articles, so let’s take a squiz at a few others in this pretty tough plant family.
A number of years ago I discovered a great garden plant from the salvia family called Russian sage, or Salvia yangii (previously Perovskia atriplicifolia).
This toughie hails from regions in Afghanistan, Turkey, Iran and western China, so has evolved as a plant that handles harsh habitats with aplomb.
Russian sage grows to between 60 and 120cm in height and has a fairly upright habit.
Through midsummer to autumn, it produces spires of dark blue to lilac flowers held above the foliage.
It’s a great dramatic plant for a dryish, full sun garden bed and will benefit from a cutback in early spring.
Improved cultivars you may find in local nurseries include ‘Lacey Blue’ and ‘Blue Spire’.
Another resilient plant in the salvia family is Teucrium fruticans, commonly known as the tree germander in the northern hemisphere, where it grows around the Mediterranean region.
Quite ornamental all year due to its silvery foliage, this plant enjoys hot, full sun aspects and most well-drained soil types.
If allowed to grow fully, T. fruticans will reach around 1.5m high and just as wide.
However, it responds to hedging favourably, so many gardeners keep it much lower than full size.
T. fruticans will produce blue flowers from autumn through to late spring.
Check your favourite nursery for the cultivars ‘Silver Box’ and ‘Silver n Sapphires’.
Coming from the mint side of the Lamiaceae family is the genus Agastache, from eastern Asia and North America.
In the northern hemisphere agastaches are regarded as herbaceous plants (they die down in winter), but in a warm temperate region like ours they are more likely to hang around alof the year.
They are small shrubs growing from about 60 to 120cm high, and nearly as wide.
Like their cousins Salvia and Teucrium, they enjoy full aspects and a well-drained position in most soil types.
Flowers are held above the foliage on spikes of pink, salmon or orange blooms.
They like to be cut back in early spring to produce dense foliage for the new season.
Look for outstanding cultivars such as ‘Pink Sceptre’, ‘Raspberry Fiesta’, ‘Royal Sceptre’ and ‘Salmon and Pink Fiesta’ in local garden centres.
Aptly named catmint, due to the euphoric attraction of its nepetalactone compound to our feline pets, the genus Nepeta sports a good range of species and cultivars classed as tough and resilient in our local region.
Most ornamental catmints suitable for our gardens come from either N. x faassenii or N. cataria species.
Many rose growers plant their favourite roses among swathes of catmint.
Some varieties are herbaceous in cooler regions, reappearing in spring, and going on to produce spikes of light to deep blue flowers from late spring to autumn.
They’ll do well in both full sun and semishaded positions and are regarded as drought tolerant once established.
Catmints are usually low growing, reaching from 30 to 60cm high and spreading up to twice as wide.
Varieties to check out are ‘Lemon Nip’ (with citrus-scented foliage) and ‘Walker’s Blue’.
An Australian native member of the Lamiaceae family that’s commonly grown due to its resilience to tough conditions such as dry soils and coastal salt spray is Westringia, also aptly-named the coastal rosemary.
Endemic to coastal regions of New South Wales, westringias have long been favourite shrubs grown by native plant enthusiasts due to their ability to handle drier inland regions.
The species plant, Westringia fruticosa, will grow to almost 2m high by 5m wide, but modern breeding has seen many shapes, colours and sizes produced for the ornamental garden market.
As they can be clipped to almost any height or shape, westringias are commonly grown as hedges, topiaries and even as mounded plants in oriental gardens.
New varieties are many and varied and include Westringia fruticosa ‘WES08’ Aussie Box (95cm h x 95cm w), Grey Box ‘WES04’ (45cm h x 45cm w), ‘Smoke Screen Purple’ (80 x 80cm), ‘Zena’ (2m x 2m) and ‘Seafoam Swell’ (1m x 1m).
Many genera and species of plants in the Lamiaceae family have scented foliage, and most blooms are held on spikes above the plants for a striking effect in the garden.
And because of their colouring and shape, nearly all Lamiaceae blooms are great pollinator attractors, bringing European and native bees, and a plethora of butterflies to our gardens for this most important task.