Trichostema lanatum

Identification

Trichostema lanatum, Woolly Blue Curls, Romero and Blue Curls.
Trichostema lanatum, Woolly blue curls are amazingly fragrant. - grid24_3
Trichostema lanatum, Woolly Blue Curls flower display.
Trichostema lanatum, Woolly Blue Curl flower spike. - grid24_3
Flowers of Trichostema lanatum, Woolly Blue Curls.
Costa Hummingbird on Trichostema lanatum, Woolly blue curls - grid24_3
Hummingbirds, Goldfinch, and Quail all like woolly blue curls, Trichostema lanatum
Trichostema lanatum ,Woolly Blue Curls with a Trichostema parshii in background - grid24_3
Trichostema lanatum and Trichostema parshii
Trichostema lanatum, Woolly Blue Curls flower - grid24_3
Trichostema lanatum, close up of Wooly Blue curls flower
Hummingbirds love woolly blue curls, Costa hummingbird on a Trichostema lanatum  - grid24_3
Hummingbirds love woolly blue curls
Trichostema lanatum, Woolly Blue Curls with a skipper butterfly - grid24_3
Wow, that looks yummy! A skipper checks out a Trichostema lanatum
Trichostema lanatum, Woolly Blue Curls used to grow native through the Santa Monica Mountains, Santa Catalina Island, up through Thousand Oaks, Los Angeles, Riverside,  up to Monterey and south to San Diego.  - grid24_3
Trichostema lanatum, Woolly Blue Curls, imagine a hedge of this in Los Angeles.
Trichostema lanatum,  Woolly Blue Curls with three California Dog-face Butterflies, Zerene eurydice - grid24_3
California Dog-face Butterflies on Woolly Blue Curls, Trichostema lanatum
Painted lady Butterfly on Trichostema lanatum, Woolly Blue Curls - grid24_3
A Painted Lady Butterfly on Woolly Blue Curls, Trichostema lanatum
Woolly Blue curls mixed in a clump of Artemesia californica. California has a distinct look and smell because of it's native plants. - grid24_3
Artemisia californica, California Sagebrush, and Trichostema lanatum, Woolly Blue Curls.
Trichostema lanatum, Woolly Blue Curls along one of our roads. - grid24_3
Companion plants of Trichostema lanatum, Dendromecon rigida,and Lepechinia calycina. And Dogus domesticus and her cohort.

Description

Woolly Blue Curls is a three to four foot evergreen shrub with flowers violet in fuzzy spikes in May-Aug and narrow aromatic leaves. Woolly Blue Curls is native to dry slopes, south coast ranges of California. (I've seen it as far north as San Benito.) Trichostema lanatum, Blue Curls, Romero, etc., needs full sun, good drainage, no water after established. Cold tolerant to  10 deg.F(maybe even 0F) with no foliage burn. It will burn to the ground at -5 F. but recover. More of a problem for many people is its need for perfect, absolutely perfect, SUMMER drainage.. Standing water will kill it, areas of much summer rain will kill it, soil amendment will kill it, fertilizer will kill it. If you have a clay soil , plant it so water cannot stand. A ity-bity 'mound' of a 1/4 inch is enough so the water can't stand. It is native on sites that range from serpentine clay to gravel with a rainfall from 14-45". Some companion plants are Artemisia californica, Eriogonum fasciculatum, Penstemon centranthifolius, Nassella cernua, Quercus douglasii (between), and Quercus agrifolia (just outside drip line). One of the most unusually beautiful combinations is groupings of Artemisia californica interspersed with individuals of Trichostema lanatum, between trees of Quercus douglasii. This shimmering blue of the blue curl flowers, with the silvery gray foliage of the Artemisia, against background of the muted blue of the Quercus douglasii, is like nothing I have ever seen. On bad years deer browse this plant heavily. The flowers and foliage sell it easily. The flowers are royal blue, fuzzy, 12" clusters and excellent for cut flowers. . Both the flower and foliage has a sweet fragrance like freshly cut cedar with a bouquet of lavender. Plant in your soil, water well once/week indirectly (first year only), put a rock or boulder next to it and get the vase ready! Mix with Salvia Pozo Blue', Encelia californica, Desert mallow (Sphaeralcea spp.) with Salvia Gracias' in the foreground.
AND, did I mention, they smell wonderful? A pine forest meets a chaparral glen. That perfect campsite, your back yard.

Available at our Online store.

Contact: pan@laspilitas.com
Container Size Quantity In Production Quantity For Purchase Unit-Price
One Gallon 102 0 $ 11.99

Available at our Santa Margarita store.

Contact: bawilson@laspilitas.com
Hours: Open Saturday only from 9am to 4pm
Address: 3232 Las Pilitas Rd. Santa Margarita, CA 93453
Container Size Quantity In Production Quantity For Purchase Unit-Price
One Gallon 92 10 $ 11.99
Five Gallon 0 3 $ 35.99

Available at our Escondido store.

Contact: escondido@laspilitas.com
Hours: Open Tuesday through Saturday from 9am to 4pm
Address: 8331 Nelson Way Escondido, CA 92026
Container Size Quantity In Production Quantity For Purchase Unit-Price
One Gallon 61 3 $ 11.99
Five Gallon 0 0 $ 35.99

Characteristics


Trichostema lanatum Woolly Blue Curls is great for a bird garden.
Trichostema lanatum Woolly Blue Curls's foliage type is evergreen and has fragrance.
Trichostema lanatum Woolly Blue Curls's flower color is violet.

Communities

Communities for Trichostema lanatum Woolly Blue Curls:Chaparral.

Ranges for Trichostema lanatum

ph: 6.00 to 7.50
usda: 7 to 10
height[m]: 1.00 to 1.50
width[m]: 1.00 to 1.00
rainfall[cm]: 31.00 to 100.00

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Last edited on 2012-01-08 18:10:07.

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