Grevillea rosmarinifolia

Grevillea rosmarinifolia is a fine-textured Australian evergreen, a rounded to semi-prostrate shrub whose narrow, deep green leaves look uncannily like rosemary, giving the plant both the species name and a handsome, needled presence the year round. The likeness is only skin-deep, for this is a member of the protea family, Proteaceae, worlds away from any herb.

The flowers are the surprise: clusters of small, spider-like blooms in red tipped with cream, curling and intricate, borne in dense racemes along the branches. Where most shrubs rest, rosemary grevillea flowers through the cool months, from fall into winter and on toward spring, a rare source of color and nectar when the garden is otherwise quiet. Hummingbirds and bees find the blooms readily.

Tough and undemanding, the plant thrives in full sun and sharp drainage, taking heat, wind, and drought once established, and reaching perhaps four to six feet, often lower and wider or nearly prostrate. Rosemary grevillea suits a dry border, a gravel garden, a hot bank, or a coastal planting in the milder South, and works beautifully in native-style or water-wise schemes alongside other lean-soil companions.

One quirk is worth knowing: like all grevilleas, this shrub is sensitive to phosphorus, so skip ordinary fertilizers and rich compost and let the plant settle in on poor, fast-draining ground. Give sun, drainage, and restraint at the feeding trough, and rosemary grevillea rewards with evergreen structure and flowers in the off-season for very little trouble.