Westringia 'Wynyabbie Gem'

Jeff Howes

I planted my first Westringia 'Wynyabbie Gem' plant about eight years ago in my garden, in the northern Sydney suburb of Westleigh and I now have planted a few more as they are quick growing, tough, long living, drought tolerant and frost hardy. On maturity, they form a medium dense shrub growing to 1.6 m tall by 1.6 m high. The leaves are narrow-lanceolate to 20 mm long by 3 mm wide and greyish-green in colour. They are moderately dense along the branches and found in whorls of four. The flowers are a light lilac-mauve to blue-mauve and are borne prolifically in the spring but some occur all year round.

'Wynyabbie Gem' is a great landscaping plant because its greyish/green foliage contrasts so well with many other darker green leaf plants - I plant them in groups of three to maximise this contrast. Their pale lilac/blue flowers also add to this contrasting effect.

Flowers of Westringia 'Wynyabbie Gem' being visited by a hover fly Photo: Jeff Howes

Hybrid Origin: Westringia `Wynyabbie Gem' is a hybrid between W.fruticosa and a mauve flowered form of W.eremicola. It arose in cultivation at Wynyabbie Nursery, Jindalee, Queensland. The cultivar name is derived from the nursery name.

Westringia: After Johan Peter Westring (1753-1833). Physician to the King of Sweden.

fruticosa: from the Latin fruticosus meaning bushy. It refers to the woody stems forming the greater part of the plant but branching from the base.

Australian Plants online - 2008
Association of Societies for Growing Australian Plants