I’ll readily admit that I’ve an obsession with crops that produce flowers formed like buttons, puffs, or candy little pom poms. They remind me of the quirky crops from Dr. Seuss books, very similar to the Truffula bushes in The Lorax. So, naturally, once I got here throughout Cotula, I used to be offered. Now I plant this charming floor cowl in as lots of my shoppers’ gardens as potential.
Native to South Africa, and also referred to as Brass Buttons or Massive Yellow Moon, this evergreen floor cowl will effortlessly and rapidly unfold, scramble, and path like the perfect of them. Its smooth, ferny gray-green foliage is enticing and touchable, nevertheless it’s the intense yellow button-shaped blooms that steal the present. The slightest breeze strikes the flowers, balanced on skinny stems, and shimmies them about.
These candy flowers begin blooming within the spring and can proceed blooming effectively into the autumn with routine deadheading. And whereas pruning out every particular person flower could seem tedious (or zen-like, relying on the way you view it), you too can look forward to many of the flowers to complete blooming after which can shear all of it again to about three inches.
When the plant is finished blooming, you’ll be able to recognize the ferny carpet that resembles a low-growing, grayer spikemoss. If you’re on the lookout for different ball-shaped crops to affix the whimsical backyard celebration, take into account combining it with a few of my different favorites, “Billy Buttons” and leucospermums. Or perhaps repeat the spherical form with different ball-like evergreens like Pittosporum ‘Golf Ball’ or Westringia ‘Gray Mound’. Professional tip: A repetition of a component (a coloration, texture, flower form) all through a backyard lends a visible thread and creates cohesion.
Maintain It Alive
Full solar to half shade is greatest. An excessive amount of shade and the plant will look lanky. Foliage grows to a low 1 to 2 inches tall however spreads to 36 inches broad. Common to well-draining soil is most popular. Medium water is greatest however turns into extra drought-tolerant with age. Whereas a sturdy frost would possibly take it again, Cotula will almost definitely come again to life within the spring. Hardy to USDA Zone 8. Bonus: It’s thought-about a fire-resistant plant.
Cheat Sheet
Nice for edging a wall, trailing over containers, or as a cute residing mulch. Attracts bees and butterflies on the lookout for lunch. Seaside-, wind-, and heat-tolerant. Makes the sweetest little lower flower for petite vases. Seems to be spectacular planted with different ball-shaped crops and with drought-tolerant beauties like purple salvias and orange yarrow.
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