Green Santolina is an evergreen, rounded, fragrant shrub from the Mediterranean. It needs well-drained soil in the full sun and is quite drought tolerant. Prune the plant back severely in late winter or spring to keep it from getting too leggy, woody or splitting apart. The leaves are fragrant and add a fine texture to the garden. The yellow spring flowers are showy. It is fairly short-lived. Use this shrub in a rock garden, on a slope, a border or in small groups. Fungal root and basal crown rot is possible if the soil is poorly drained.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
Soil texture
Clay; Loam (Silt); Sand; Shallow Rocky
Soil drainage
Good Drainage
Available space
Less than 12 inches; 12 inches-3 feet
NC region
Coastal; Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 1 ft. 6 in. - 3 ft. 6 in. | Width: 1 ft. 0 in. - 2 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate
Medium
Maintenance
Medium
Canopy layer
3 - Shrub (3-15 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Mounding; Rounded
Texture
Fine
Foliage
Broadleaf Evergreen
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf shape
Pinnatifid
Leaf value
Fragrant
Leaf size
1-3 inches long
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
1.5 inch deep green scale-like leaves are highly pinnatifid and aromatic.
Flower color
Gold/Yellow
Flower value
Showy
Flower form
Head
Flower detail
Tight yellow composite flower head blooms in mid to late spring.
Bloom time
Spring
Stem color
Green
Stem detail
Slender green flower stems
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Non-native
Origin
Iberian Peninsula, S.W. Europe
Wildlife value
Deer resistant
Food & Medicine
Uses (ethnobotany)
Dried leaves used in sachets and potpourris. Foliage historically used as an insecticide. It can also be used medicinally on insect bites as pain relief. Extracted oils used in perfume.