Epilobium canum brings vibrant colour to the Limestone Rock Garden.
A native of the southern United States of America, this species grows in rough, stony, nutrient-deficient terrain. It is a drought-tolerant, spreading, rhizomatous, semi-evergreen shrub with lance-shaped, silver-grey foliage. Terminal racemes of tubular, brilliant orange or scarlet flowers are produced from summer into autumn, and in their native habitat this species is pollinated by hummingbirds. It thrives here in a sunny, well-drained position on the Rock Garden, where it has probably grown since the construction of the Rock Garden in the 1950’s. Epilobium canum is one of approximately 200 species, commonly referred to as willowherbs, and which belong to the fuchsia family, Onagraceae.