Correa
Beautiful Correa is our bloom of the week.
Correa is a genus of eleven species, all endemic to Australia, named for Portuguese botanist Abbé Correa. Commonly called Australian Fuchsia, they are actually a member of the Citrus Family, Rutaceae.
Revered by gardeners for their reliability, drought tolerance, and abundant Fuchsia-like flowers, loads of Correa cultivars are now available, offering the best features of many species, some with parentage unknown.
Correa ‘Ivory Bells’ makes a lovely small hedge at the top of the North trail, with gray green leaves and cream colored flowers. A sprawling new planting of ‘Wyn’s Wonder’ has gold variegation and contrasting pink blossoms. This cultivar could be used as a specimen or in mass to light up a dark spot in the garden. Correa alba var. pannosa ‘Western Pink Star’ shows variety in the genus with its upward facing flowers, ground cover form and more hirsute leaves. Correa pulchella ‘Pink Flamingo’ makes an elegant transition from the Mediterranean to the Heather Garden, the name pulchella meaning “beautiful” in Latin
A fabulous shade plant in hot climates, Correa thrives in sun or shade here on the coast. Generally said to bloom in fall, they never seem to stop in our garden, blessing us with a profusion of dangling tubular bells and tidy evergreen foliage throughout the year.
Submitted by
Siena MacFarland, Staff Gardener