Santolina (lavender cotton)

About Santolina (lavender cotton)

Santolina is a low, silvery-gray, evergreen subshrub with tiny, strongly scented leaves and bright yellow button flowers held above the foliage in summer; despite its common name it is neither lavender nor cotton (UC Master Gardeners, NC State). It is grown for edging, knot gardens, rock gardens and dried flowers, not for cooking. It loves heat, sand and drought but sulks in wet, humid summers.

Hardy in zones 6-9 (NC State, UF/IFAS). It has naturalized in a few California counties but is not considered invasive (UC Master Gardeners of Sonoma County).

When to plant

Timing is counted from your average last spring frost (and first fall frost). Sow & Tell works out the actual dates for your ZIP code.

Set out plants in spring (UGA). New plants come from semi-ripe cuttings in fall, seed sown in a cold frame in fall or spring, or branches that root where they touch the soil (UC Master Gardeners).

Soil

Very well-drained sandy, rocky or lean soil; it tolerates salt and acid to alkaline soil, and overwatering is the main thing that kills it (NC State, Cornell, UC Master Gardeners).

Give it very well-drained sandy, rocky or lean soil; it does best in poor soil and needs no added fertilizer.

Feeding

Avoid extra fertilizer and overwatering, the most common ways to lose it; cut it back hard in late winter or spring and trim off old flower stalks, or it splits open in the middle.

Harvest

Blooms in summer; cut flower stems for drying, then trim off the old flower stalks so the plant stays compact (NC State, UF/IFAS).

It blooms once each summer; cut the flower stems for drying, then trim the old stalks so the plant stays compact.

Varieties (2)

Extension sources document only 2 named varieties. UGA notes gray and green kinds exist; the green ones are mostly separate species (Santolina rosmarinifolia and S. virens, per NC State).

Diseases and problems

Root and crown rot, Fungal diseases in humid summers

In the kitchen

Safety: Not a food plant: the sources we checked give no information that it is safe to eat, so grow it for looks, scent and dried flowers.

Pets: Not listed by the ASPCA.