This Emu bush is always a great performer in a difficult postion, providing so my joy with its multicolured buds and blooms. I have been growing Eremophila ‘Fairy Floss’ for a number of years now and have found it to be particularly tough and hardy. What I didn’t realise was that it is a cross between racemosa and maculata (I thought only racemosa) so no wonder it is so resilient. One of the things I adore about ‘Fairy Floss’ is the varied colours of the buds, they begin yellow, then turn orange and then the flower opens to pink, this gives such a lovely array of colour through Winter and into Spring.

Erempohila racemosa is Native to southern Western Australia, it is best suited to dry climates and requires well-drained soils in full sun. While the hybrid Eremophila racemosa x maculata is still suited to dry areas, they can sometimes be more tolerant of humidity, making it a good choice for us on the east coast.

Flowering in late Winter into Spring and sometime Summer the yellow/orange buds burst into candy-pink tubular flowers with fine white cobwebby hairs, attributing to its common name ‘Fairy Floss’.

This plant is very happy to be pruned after flowering to encourage compact growth, just a tip prune is all that is needed, this will also help it be more wind tolerant.

We would call this a medium shrub, reaching 2.2m in height and 2m in width, therefore it

can be planted to provide screening or as a medium hedge. However, I prefer to keep it pruned to around 1.5 m high and the same wide.

It is considered quite a hardy plant perfect for beginner gardeners, plant it in a sunny well drained spot in most soils and it will withstand droughts, frost and extended dry periods.

I love the upright branching habit, it works well planted with other native shrubs with a finer foliage, adding contrast to garden beds.

In the image above it is planted in the foreground with Westringia ‘Wynyabbie Gem’ and Lomandra ‘Little Lime’.

The flowers are bird and bee attracting, and it also provides shelter to small birds and nectar for insects.

Eremophila ‘Fairy Floss’ can also be grown in part shade, as long as the soil is well drained and the airflow is good, this gives some of our Correa species a run for their money 😉

I have found Eremophila ‘Fairy Floss’ to be extremly quick growing, especially when you compare it to some of the grafted Eremophilas. So why not give it a try as an alternative?