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Strobilanthes gossypinus
Click the image to see a more detailed photo

Strobilanthes close-up
Click the image to see a more detailed photo

Click the image to see a more detailed photo

Strobilanthes gossypinus

Every year enterprising nurserymen and plant breeders introduce new plants onto the market. Often they are a flash in the pan and disappear off the gardener’s radar in a year or two. They turn out to be tricky to grow or their flowering season is short then they look messy or boring.
But now and then a real beauty pops up that becomes an important year-round performer on our gardening menu.
Strobilanthes gossypinus is one of these beauties.

I can’t find any common name for this plant so we’re stuck with this latin mouthful. If you didn’t lisp before, this name could get you started! Maybe we should just call it “S-G”.

The Strobilanthes family are mostly tropical. This one comes from the hill country of South India and Sri Lanka. It is a rounded, dense bush whose paired, flat leaves are covered in silver-grey fur. When the leaves are young the fur is a soft golden colour, so the bush seems to shimmer silver and gold in the sunlight. When wet the leaves show green through the fur.

The word “gossypinus” means cotton-like in latin, in reference to the masses of shiny hairs on the leaf surfaces.
Strobilanthes gossypinus is frost-tender so it needs a warm sunny spot although I have found it will tolerate dappled light too.

According to the scanty information available on the Net, it will eventually produce compact heads of tubular, lilac flowers above the foliage but so far I have never seen it flower here.
Possibly our cooler climate may prevent flowering altogether.
Even without flowers, this plant is a landscaper’s dream because it looks so
immaculate and neat all year long, while its unusual colour and texture contrasts dramatically with almost any other plant.

The combination of silver with a green groundcover like Coprosma acerosa “Hawera” is much more interesting than using just green plants together.
A pink flax, like “Jester”, with Strobilanthes makes a very elegant mix, especially if each is massed in sizeable groups.
Imagine massed red Impatiens or the purple strappy leaves of the new Cordyline “Red Fountain” against the round silvery mounds of this plant. Strobilanthes would contrast dramatically with massed Cannas or the emphatic silhouettes of young nikau palms.
The possibilities are endless.

This Strobilanthes will reach about one metre high and 1.5m across after two or three years in a sunny position, but eventually I suspect it may become more leggy. It responds well to pruning back and seems to be very drought-resistant. The furry leaves resist salt-laden winds with ease, so it is perfect for rugged, seaside conditions.

The secret to creating a long-lasting, great garden design, is to choose plants that contrast strongly with each other but don’t out-grow their position or become messy, overpowering their companions.
This new beauty could well become one of those key plants that provide the zing and fizz that lifts a garden design out of the ordinary. But please.. no lisping!