Conradina canescens

The conradinas are dense, aromatic, low shrubs of the mint family, dressed in small, usually needle-like green or gray leaves and hung with little pale purple flowers. Six or seven species grow wild in the southern United States, most of them in Florida on sand or very sandy soil, and all but this one (and one possibly new species) are federally listed as threatened or endangered. Conradina canescens is the common, widespread member of the clan, a somewhat variable plant of the Gulf Coast dunes of northwest Florida and adjacent Alabama.

Gray false rosemary makes a fine garden plant in sunny, sandy, well-drained places with little competition, and would grace an herb garden handsomely, though the leaves are not known to carry any culinary or medicinal value. Drought tolerant once established, the shrub is a natural for xeriscapes and other low-water plantings, and the aromatic foliage releases a clean, resinous scent when brushed.

Site gray false rosemary where the fine gray foliage and pale flowers can be read up close: a rock or gravel garden, a hot sunny bank, a sandy coastal bed, or the front of a dry border, among other sun-and-drought lovers that will not crowd the low mound. Bees and butterflies work the flowers steadily, and deer pass the aromatic leaves by.

Learn more about the Conradina genus here.

Photo courtesy of Alan Cressler.