The weather is definitely warming and sap is starting to move – so many plants are coming into flower, I just love spring.
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This Euryops is a late winter flowering plant, but it colours up early spring as well. Euryops virgineus is an attractive South African plant.
‘Eury’ comes from the Greek meaning large and ‘ops’ means eyes. This would refer to the plant’s daisy flowers.
The species name of virgineus comes from the Latin ‘virgo’ meaning a virgin, untouched. This would describe the beauty of the plant growing in its natural habitat. This delightful Euryops belongs to the daisy family, Asteraceae and is commonly called the Honey Euryops.
The leaves on this plant are small, quite a dark green and if you look closely they look like tiny, little hands. The flowers are produced in a mass so that the whole plant appears bright yellow. They do well as a cut flower too and are perfumed.
This is a really showy plant and anyone can grow it – it’s very hardy. Plant it in a position with full sun and it will grow. It’s fine with hot sun, fine with frost, ok with drought and also wind tolerant, winner, winner!
The Euryops virgineus is also quite fast growing, and this makes it a great choice for new gardens or for any garden that needs a gap filled quickly.
I know it sounds like the perfect plant, but it does need some maintenance to keep it looking good.
Pruning is absolutely necessary to keep this plant reasonably compact. Give it a good cut back in spring when flowering has finished. Without a good prune once or twice a year this plant becomes leggy and straggly.
You must ensure the soil is well-drained and that this specimen doesn’t get waterlogged at any time.
They do well as a cut flower too and are perfumed.
- Deborah Delahunty
There’s one growing in the front garden at the horticulture department at Wodonga TAFE and I don’t recall it being affected by any pests or diseases – this is one tough plant. Easy to propagate by cuttings or seed, this is a great plant that I rate quite highly.
Plant one now and you’ll have an almost fully grown specimen when it flowers next winter.
Diary
Spring is always a great time to buy a plant or two. The Friends of the Albury Botanic Gardens are having a plant sale on Sunday, September 16, 11am to 2pm, at their nursery at the Albury Botanic Gardens.