Rostrinucula dependens - Tree Mint

The Rostrinucula dependens or Tree Mint is a botanical species originating from China, little known, which forms an bush of easy cultivation, original and very ornamental. It is distinguished first by its late flowering, in late summer, which offers a unique spectacle with its long cylindrical and trailing spikes, adorned with small pink-lilac flowers with prominent stamens. Visually striking, it creates the effect of a plant cascade, reminiscent in silhouette of certain buddleias. It thrives in fertile, light and fresh, well-drained soil, in full sun, where it will unfold all its beauty.

Native to China, more precisely to the provinces of Guizhou, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, the Rostinucula dependens is a bush belonging to the Lamiaceae family. In nature, it grows spontaneously at an altitude between 600 and 2500m. It shows a flexible and arched habit, composed of numerous stems originating from the stump. Its very rapid growth allows it to reach about 1.50 m in all directions within a season. In mild climates, the branches are not destroyed by severe frosts, allowing this tree mint to exceed these dimensions. Flowering occurs from August to October, depending on the climate and weather. Trailing inflorescences, cylindrical, 10 to 35 cm long and 1.5 cm wide, appear at the end of the year's shoots. They are curved, rigid-looking, and covered with white and fluffy bracts that open to release small bright lavender-pink flowers, with clusters of pink stamens protruding. The leaves, ovate to elliptical, 4 to 9.5 cm long and 1.3 to 4 cm wide, are a beautiful bluish-green, slightly puckered, arranged alternately along young purple, fluffy, square-sectioned branches. 2-year-old branches take on more brownish hues and become glabrous. The older wood is cream-white in colour, covered with cracked bark.

Although discreet with its pastel shades and tomentose foliage, the Rostrinucula dependens has a real personality, which is ideal to highlight individually or in front of a bed of bushes with staggered blooms or evergreen foliage. It adapts well to oceanic regions with mild winters, without harsh light, and fairly rainy conditions. Capable of regrowth from the stump after severe frosts (down to -12°C), it can be acclimated elsewhere, provided it benefits from well-drained soil or even by cultivating it in a large pot to overwinter. In warm regions, it requires summer watering and a non-scorching exposure. For an exotic effect, this tree mint can be paired with woody fuchsias (magellanica, regia, excorticata), a flowering Buddleia officinalis from February, Phormiums for contrast, a Lochroma cyaneum or even Japanese anemones.