Olearia
Olearia × haastii
Takes drought and a little shade without complaint, but standing water at the roots is the one thing it won't survive.
Spacing & sowing
- Plant spacing
- 17.7 in
- In-row spacing
- 17.7 in
- Between rows
- 17.7 in
- Square-foot density
- Not suited to SFG
Growing
- Type
- Shrub · Perennial
- Botanical family
- Mixed / other
- Sunlight
- Full sun; it will take light shade, but flowers less there.
- Watering
- Drought-tolerant once established; it will not forgive waterlogging.
- Feeding
- A light feed in spring; it isn't demanding.
- Frost tolerant
- Yes
- Flowering
- July
- Pruning
- Trim it over after flowering, in August or September.
Through the year
- Mar–Jul Spring Growth
- Jul–Sep Flowering
- Sep–Dec Growing
- Dec–Dec Leaf Fall
- Jan–Mar Leaf Fall
Companions
Escallonia, Griselinia, Pittosporum, Hebe
Pests & problems
Garden allies
Beneficial predators that hunt this plant's pests — grow their favourite flowers nearby to recruit them. companion plant
- Hoverfly SyrphidaeHunts Scale insects
Bee-mimicking flies whose legless larvae graze aphid colonies clean while the adults pollinate. A ribbon of shallow, nectar-rich flowers kept in bloom all season recruits wave after wave of them.
- Ladybird (lady beetle) CoccinellidaeHunts Scale insects
The gardener’s favorite ally: adults and their alligator-shaped larvae each eat thousands of aphids, plus scale, mealybugs, and other soft-bodied sap-suckers. Grow flat, open flowers for the adults and never spray a colony that ladybird larvae are already working.
The Cottage Garden Companion — the gardener's herbarium at cottagegardencompanion.com