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OUTSTANDING FEATURES: Make points with your valentine by planting a few of these Australian beauties! This durable, evergreen shrub starts blooming in January, reaching its peak of color just in time for Valentine’s Day. In a long, cool spring blooming can continue on through April. The abundance of showy red flowers during the winter months has made this new shrub extremely popular.
DESCRIPTION: Eremophila maculata Valentine™ is a symmetrical evergreen shrub, with smallrounded green leaves. When plants are watered regularly, the foliage is lush and green. Several established shrubs in a research plot which received only one irrigation last year had much smaller leaves witha gray-green cast. In the winter, this shrub blooms on fresh young stems, which results in masses of tubular red flowers along the tips of the branches. Also, the foliage is tinged with a reddish color in the winter months. The foliage and growth habit are reminiscent of some Cotoneaster species.
CULTURE/MAINTENANCE: Eremophila maculata Valentine™ should be planted in full sun. It is extremely drought tolerant, but will respond to regular irrigation. Because flowering occurs on young terminal wood, this plant should be sheared in the spring to encourage bushiness and more terminal branches. March is probably the ideal month to prune. Later shearing may expose the shrub to sunburn. Plants that are grown without annual shearing have long, angular branches similar to those of Leucophyllum laevigatum. This plant does not seem to be choosy about soil type, although it prefers good drainage. In heavier soils, avoid root rot by allowing the soil to dry out between irrigations.
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