There truly is nothing quite like Maireana oppositifolia, the strange and intriguing habit of this silver foliaged beauty is unique. It has a strong upright habit with its branchlets compact and forming points giving it a sculptural affect. In the image below you can see standing strong behind the Eremophila ‘Kalbarri Carpet’.

Because of its unusual  habit it stands out easily in a mixed garden bed, can you pick it in the image above? easy right? It looks like it is blowing in the breeze however it is not, it is stiff with very tiny compact leaves.

Maireana oppositifolia reaches around 1metre high x 1 metre wide and enjoys a free draining soil in part shade to full sun. It’s form making it a small woody shrub. It is extremely drought resistant as it comes from Western Australia, making it a lover of hot dry summers, I have found it to be very easy to grow here in coastal NSW making it a fantastic feature shrub for difficult coastal gardens.

Pictured above in the native botanic gardens in Cranbourne when I was last there. I have not seen my own flower yet, but they have tiny orange/red flowers in spring popping along its branches, they turn into winged fruits enlarging after flowering. Im looking forward to seeing this transformation.

I have mentioned this plant before in our silver and greg blog and thought this time it deserved a full post of its own. Its common name being Bluebush, it adds that foliage element to the garden. The leaves are tiny fleshy almost succulent like.

I like to use it mixed with weeping and cascading plants to accentuate its striking habit, it also makes a good replacement for Leucophyta brownii which doesn’t like to grow where I garden very much 😉 it makes a great low hedge or will grow well in a pot, a very rewarding plant to grow indeed.