Plant Care Guides / Outdoor & Coastal / Medium shrubs
Indigenous | Easy Care | Medium shrubs
The whitesilk is a beautiful fynbos shrub that earns its name from the silky, silver-white flower heads that cover the bush in late winter and spring. The flowers are actually clusters of tiny blooms enclosed in papery white bracts, and they have a subtle honey-like scent that draws bees and insects.
The plant itself is a dense, upright, evergreen shrub with small, dark green, scale-like leaves pressed tightly against the stems, giving it a heathland texture. It is naturally coastal, growing in sandy fynbos along the southern Cape coast, and it handles wind, salt air, poor sandy soil and drought. An excellent choice for a natural, fynbos-style garden.
1 to 2 m tall and about 1 m wide.
Moderate.
Fynbos garden, mixed indigenous border, rockery, cut flower (the dried flowers last well), coastal garden.
Full sun. It is a fynbos plant and needs open, sunny conditions.
Well-drained, sandy, acidic to neutral soil. It thrives in the poor, sandy coastal conditions here. Avoid heavy, rich, waterlogged soil.
Low once established. Drought-hardy. Water while settling in.
Do not feed with rich compost or high-phosphorus fertilisers. A light feed with a low-phosphorus, fynbos-friendly fertiliser in spring is enough.
A light trim after flowering keeps it compact. Do not cut back into bare wood.
Ask about availability. WhatsApp us to check what is currently in stock, or visit the nursery and we will help you choose the right plant for your spot.
