MBN 1Gal Alyogyne huegelii 'Swann River'

Medium purple blue, darker than the "regular old trade form," which is actually the variety ‘Santa Cruz,’ but not as dark as ‘Monterey Bay.’ Has better form than either, more compact and denser foliaged, and the flowers are thicker textured, somewhat fuller, and with a conspicuous overlapping “propeller” form. This variety is close to the form found in nature (or rather, formerly found in nature) near Moora, Western Australia. In fact, this form is probably the result of that Moora form crossed with ‘Santa Cruz,’ as is ‘Monterey Bay.’ During the deep drought of 1977-78, the Arboretum at UC Santa Cruz had a severe deer problem, resulting in the continual browsing of the young growth of the Alyogynes growing there. The plants developed into beautiful, dense, dome shaped shrubs covered with purple flowers. Prune constantly and don’t worry about removing buds - there will be plenty more! At the very least cut it back twice a year. Sun to part shade, little or no summer watering when established. Best with good drainage, but will tolerate relatively heavy soils if summer watering is infrequent. This plant will be killed by temperatures between 20-25°F and will probably be cut to the ground by 25°F for more than a single night. From UC Santa Cruz. Western Australia. Malvaceae