Eremophilas would have to be one of my favourite garden plants and one of my favourite Eremophilas would have to be Eremophila ‘Eyre Princess’. It’s now the beginning of spring in Melbourne and my Eremophila ‘Eyre Princess’ is now at the height of its flowering season.
At the moment it is just covered in purplely, blue flowers which are a cross between its parents, Eremophila nivea and Eremophila drummondii.
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Growing Eremophila Eyre Princess
The Eremophila above I’ve had growing in my garden now for nearly 3 years and have found it very easy to grow. It is very drought tolerant, likes lots of sunshine and even looks good when not in flower.
The most amazing thing about this Eremophila though is that I’ve never seen it in a nursery. I actually bought this one at a market and didn’t even know what it was called until a few months ago, as it didn’t come with a label. The retail nursery trade sometimes never ceases to amaze me.
For a plant that has so many things going for it, that is obviously very easy to market and especially due to the fact that it is a very drought tolerant plant and easy to grow, I really can’t understand why it isn’t so readily available. Especially since it is so easy to propagate from cuttings. I propagated some of these Eremophilas last spring, using the method for propagating plants described elsewhere in this blog.
Eremophila Eyre Princess Flowers
The only maintenance this Eremophila 'Eyre Princess' needs is to be pruned after flowering. I normally just use hedge clippers to snip it into a ball and 5 minutes later the job is done. It’s that easy and when you prune it, it will grow more compact and bushier and then reward you with lots of flowers the following year. That’s really all the attention it needs.
So if you do come across this Eremophila in a nursery then give it a try. I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the results. Eremophila ‘Eyre Princess’ really is an underused garden plant.
