Thryptomene Shrub: An Asset to Any Garden

I am a big fan of plants that attract bees and butterflies to the garden but don’t require a lot of work! Therefore I have a few of these types of plants in my garden. I have talked about the diosma and California lilac before, so today I want to discuss our thryptomene shrub!

The thryptomene plant is native to Australia and it grows well in most climates apart from the very cold or very hot regions. It flowers in winter and spring and is great for attracting butterflies, bees, and other insects.

I am not exactly sure when we planted our thryptomene saxicola but I think it was around 2010. It has now grown into a very pretty shrub with pale pink flowers in winter and spring. We have found that it copes very well with both wet and very dry conditions. Last spring and summer it survived very dry conditions with minimal water.

We have had quite a wet winter this year and it is covered in tiny pink flowers at the moment that the insects seem to love. A few weeks ago it was covered in butterflies. Now it seems to be the bees and hoverflies that are visiting this pretty plant!

The thryptomene plant is also good as a cut flower; it lasts quite well in a vase. It looks pretty on its own or it is also great as a filler flower in larger arrangements.

I prune our thryptomene back each year after it has finished flowering just to maintain its shape. While they can grow to around 2 meters high by 1.5 meters wide, ours is about 1 meter high and 1 meter wide. They also like a full sun to part shade position. Our thryptomene gets full sun until the mid-afternoon and then it is shaded by a large gum tree to the west. As you can see our cat Maddy enjoys that position as well; she loves to lie on the bare ground in the sun!

If you want a low care plant with pretty flowers that attract insects then I highly recommend the thryptomene!