Olearia solandri Aurea

The Olearia solandri Aurea distinguishes itself from other Olearia by its appearance as a large bushy heather with yellow-bronze foliage. Aerial and fluffy, it possesses the somewhat wild charm inherent to plants that thrive along the shores and allow the wind to shape their silhouette like a landscape. In late summer, its honey-scented flowering softens its foliage, suddenly sprinkled with discreet daisies barely tinged with yellow. Its low hardiness and resistance to drought reserve it, when planted in the ground, for regions spared from severe frost, in mild oceanic or Mediterranean climates. Elsewhere, it can be grown in a large pot and stored in a cold greenhouse during the winter.

The Olearia solandri, also known as the Coastal Daisy-bush in its country, is a shrub of the aster family native to the coasts of New Zealand. This evergreen shrub, with an aerial habit, sometimes a bit scruffy, overall rounded, will reach an average size of 2m (7ft) in all directions, with rapid growth. 'Aurea', from which it originates, distinguishes itself with foliage in a more golden tone. Its angular branches are golden yellow when young and darken with age, bearing tiny leaves measuring 4 to 8mm (1in) in length, very narrow, arranged in an alternate and whorled manner. They are bronze to golden green on the upper side, lighter and felted on the underside. The flowering is not spectacular but very fragrant. It takes place in August-September, in the form of numerous small solitary heads measuring 8mm (1in) in diameter that open along the branches. These inflorescences resemble tiny cream-yellow asters. The flowering is followed by the formation of a fruit called an achene; seed dispersal is ensured by the wind.

Hardy up to approximately -7/-8°C, the Olearia solandri Aurea will naturally find its place in a coastal garden, spared from severe frost, in the front line facing the sea spray. Elsewhere, it should be protected from cold and drying winds. It can be planted as a hedge, as its stature allows it to form a protective screen against the wind, and the texture of its foliage evokes that of certain conifers from a distance. It will form an elegant grove or large, harmonious flower bed, together with shrubs that flower in summer or autumn such as Grevillea, Summer Tamarisk (Tamarix ramosissima), Arbutus, and Abelia (grandiflora and chinensis). Pruning can be done to give it a denser, more compact habit and to keep it in more modest proportions. It can be planted with other small evergreen shrubs such as Leptospermum (Nanum Tui, Martinii, Silver Sheen), Atriplex halimus, Anthyllis barba-jovis, Erica multiflora, or Artemisia arborescens. It is perfectly suited to gardens along the oceanic coast where it appreciates sandy or humus-rich soils, but it tolerates Mediterranean summers quite well if well-watered, and a light, deep, flexible soil without excessive limestone content.