Plant Library

Other Names:  Woolybush, Wollybush

Description:

This shrub may look delicate with its soft needle-like foliage, but it is tough as nails, and can tolerate periods of dryness; a costal plant that is at home in poor salty soils as well; flowers appear in clusters at the base of the leaves

Ornamental Features

Albany Woolly Bush has attractive bluish-green foliage with silver undersides on a plant with an upright spreading habit of growth. The fuzzy ferny leaves are highly ornamental and remain bluish-green throughout the winter. It features dainty red tubular flowers along the branches from late fall to early spring.

Landscape Attributes

Albany Woolly Bush is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting birds, bees and butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Albany Woolly Bush is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Rock/Alpine Gardens
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Albany Woolly Bush will grow to be about 5 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 7 feet. It has a low canopy, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 40 years or more.

This shrub should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers dry to average moisture levels with very well-drained soil, and will often die in standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for xeriscaping or the moisture-conserving landscape. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in poor soils, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.

Albany Woolly Bush makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.