The dainty white flowers of the Sweet Almond Bush (Aloysia virgata) are just not done justice by a photograph. To love these blossoms you only have to stand within ten feet on them and inhale their sweet aroma. Also known as Incense Bush, Aloysia has an undeniably beautiful fragrance that has the power to draw people into the gardens from the parking lots searching for the source of such a remarkable scent.Native to Argentina, this plant has an upright growth habit and can be pruned into a small tree-form. Without pruning it tends to be a fairly leggy large shrub. The blooms are attractive to a number of small butterflies and the scent is very sweet, making this one a nice addition to larger, rambling garden spaces.
I planted one of these in the fall and then in Austin, TX, we had a pretty cold winter with a few nights dipping into the upper teens. How hardy is this plant and when will it begin to grow again in the spring?
ReplyDeleteHi Eric,
ReplyDeleteWe had a pretty similar winter here in Tampa this year. The temperature here has stabalized in the mid 50's to low 70's over the last two weeks and the aloysia in the garden are already putting leaves and buds on. I think as soon as you have a few weeks of moderate temperatures, sunshine and maybe even some rain you will start to see some new growth. If you are in a dry period you might want to supplement some watering. Tampa has had an unusually wet early Spring, which has helped with all sorts of plant growth. Good luck!
Thanks for the reply. I trimmed mine back yesterday until I could see a bit of green in the stems coming from the ground so I may have about 4" sticking out of the ground. I think the cold snap killed off about 75% of the plant above the ground. The temperatures here are starting to get warmer with a lot of rain this winter so hopefully it'll start budding again soon. Right now, there isn't a single leaf on it, but the green sticks give me some hope still.
ReplyDeleteBTW, my sweet olive bushes are starting to sprout new growth beautifully right now with this weather. You may be interested in those as well if you like the sweet almond bush. And they are evergreen and survived the cold here.
ReplyDelete