Helichrysum italicum (Curry plant)

A shapely grey blob. Reminiscent of Lavender but faster growing and less demanding when it comes to soil than Lavender. The aroma is powerful – curry with a Mediterranean twist.

Well worth giving them a light trim with the shears from time to time to keep the shape and you might want a debate with yourself about the flowers. They’re yellow and prolific and lots of people like them and when they’re over there’s an awful lot of brown stuff and the formerly shapely plant looks like it’s suffered a minor trauma. It has. Flower production is exhausting. I cut them off as soon as they appear. It’s not that I dislike the yellow flowers but I love the dense shape of Helichrysum before it flowers and I want it to stay like that.

That’s why we’re called Architectural Plants. An obsession with shape that often subjugates the desire for flowers.

Helichrysum italicum has short, narrow soft grey leaves, can grow to 2ft x 2ft in a year and needs masses of light (full sun) and reasonably well drained soil. Once established, it’s pretty drought resistant.

Propagated by cuttings.

N.B. When clipping several plants with the same tool, have a bucket containing a 5% bleach solution and swish your blades around for 30 seconds between plants to sterilise them. This will help avoid the chance of cross contamination of disease.

As with all woody plants, plant high, exposing as much of the taper at the base of the trunk as possible. Allowing soil to accumulate round the base of a tree can be fatal. Keep very well watered when first planted.

Hardiness level Green

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IF IT HAS A GREEN TRAFFIC LIGHT

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Hardy anywhere in Britain below approximately 1000ft (300m)

This is only meant as a guide. Please remember we're always on hand to give advice about plants and their frost hardiness.

Please remember that these coloured labels are only a rough guide.

General Point about Plant Hardiness: The commonly held belief that it's better to 'plant small' is perfectly true with herbaceous plants, but not necessarily true with woody plants. They need some 'wood' on them to survive severe cold - so plants of marginal hardiness in very cold areas should really be planted LARGER, rather than smaller, wherever possible.