Curry Plant

Curry Plant (Helichrysum italicum) is a silver leaved Mediterranean shrub that smells strongly of curry on a warm day, particularly after rain. It forms a soft mound about 600mm tall and 700mm wide, topped with clusters of small yellow button flowers through summer. Grown for foliage and scent rather than harvest, it is one of the toughest silver plants for a hot, dry, poor soil position.

Why you'll love it

• Silver foliage all year. The fine needle like leaves hold their colour through every season and lift dark green planting around them.
• The scent is the point. Brushing past releases a warm curry aroma, so it belongs beside a path, a seat or a doorway.
• It thrives on neglect. Frost hardy, drought tolerant, salt tolerant and content in poor soil, it asks for almost nothing once established.
• Bees and butterflies work it. The yellow summer flowers are busy with pollinators and dry well for arrangements.

Where it works best

Borders and edging. Plant 50cm apart for a continuous silver band along a path or driveway. The mounded habit keeps a clean line without any clipping.

Rockeries and hot banks. Sharp drainage and reflected heat suit it exactly, and it holds its shape on a slope where softer plants sprawl.

Pots and small gardens. A 300mm pot suits a single plant on a sunny balcony, and in a small garden it gives structure and contrast without taking up room.

Growing Curry Plant in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun, all day. It suits Mediterranean, warm temperate, cool temperate, arid and semi arid gardens, and being frost hardy it handles cold southern winters. Humid subtropical and tropical summers are its weak point, where still air and wet leaves lead to rot.

Soil. Free draining and lean. Sandy, gravelly and rocky soils are ideal, and rich or wet ground is the fastest way to lose it. On clay, plant on a raised mound and mulch with gravel rather than bark.

Water and feed. Water weekly for the first two months, then only through long dry spells. Feeding is unnecessary and works against you, producing soft green growth instead of tight silver foliage.

Pruning. Trim by a third in early spring, and again after flowering if you prefer a neat mound. Always cut into leafy growth, because bare woody stems reshoot slowly and unevenly.

What to expect when it arrives

It is supplied in 140mm pots, sold in packs of 10. Plants arrive as young bushy stock ready to go straight in, and fill their space within one to two seasons in warm weather.

Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery. Plant into well drained ground and water only until the roots take. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Choosing edging plants for spacing and low border design.
• Compare other drought tolerant plants for a waterwise bed.
• See more rockery plants for hot, sharply drained positions.
• Browse plants for small gardens that stay in scale.

Common questions

Can I cook with it?

The leaves are used to perfume oils, stocks and rice during cooking, then removed before serving. They are not eaten as a herb, and this is not the plant that curry powder or curry leaves come from.

How many plants do I need for an edge?

Two per metre at 50cm spacing. A pack of 10 runs about 2.5 metres of continuous edging, or covers roughly a square metre and a half as a mass planting.

Why has mine gone woody in the middle?

Usually the result of no pruning, or of cutting back too hard into bare stems. Trim a third off in early spring every year and it will stay dense from the base.

Will it grow in a humid climate?

It struggles. In humid subtropical and tropical gardens, give it the most open, breezy, sharply drained position you have, or grow it in a pot under eaves where the foliage stays dry.