Gaura White

Gaura White (Oenothera lindheimeri, still widely sold as Gaura lindheimeri) is the perennial that keeps a garden bed in flower from spring right through autumn. It makes a soft clump about 90cm tall and 60cm wide, and the white blooms sit on thin wiry stems that move in the slightest breeze. Little else gives that much flowering for that little water.

Why you'll love it

• Months of flower, not weeks. White blooms open in succession from spring into autumn, so one plant carries a bed through three seasons.
• It reads as movement. The flowers are held on fine stems that sway constantly, which softens rigid planting and hard edges.
• Genuinely tough. Drought tolerant, heat tolerant, salt tolerant and happy in poor soil, which is a rare combination in a flowering perennial.
• Bees and butterflies find it fast. It is one of the more reliable nectar plants for a small garden, and it flowers when many natives have finished.

Where it works best

Borders and mass planting. Plant 50cm apart for a drift of massed colour. At that spacing the clumps merge into a single haze of white rather than reading as separate plants.

Rockeries and hot dry beds. Sharp drainage and reflected heat suit it. It is a good filler between structural plants like agave or dianella where nothing thirsty will survive.

Pots and small gardens. A 300mm pot holds one plant comfortably. Group three on a sunny terrace and cut them back together in late winter.

Growing Gaura White in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun, all day, is the requirement. It performs across warm temperate, cool temperate, Mediterranean, subtropical and arid gardens, and it is frost hardy once the crown is established, dying down in the coldest districts and reshooting in spring.

Soil. Poor and gravelly beats rich and heavy. Drainage is the make or break: in wet clay the crown rots over winter, so plant on a raised mound with grit or coarse compost worked through.

Water and feed. Water weekly through the first summer, then leave it alone apart from long dry spells. Skip heavy feeding entirely. A rich diet gives you tall floppy stems and fewer flowers.

Pruning. Cut the whole clump back hard in late winter, to roughly 15cm. This is the one job that matters, and it is what renews the plant and keeps it from going woody and sparse at the base.

What to expect when it arrives

Two sizes are available: tube stock, and a 140mm pack of 10 for larger plantings. Tubes are young plants with a full root plug and they catch up quickly, often flowering in their first summer. The 140mm plants are a season ahead and give a faster result across a border.

Gaura arrives looking wispy, which is simply what the plant is; do not judge it on the day it lands. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Perennials for an Australian cottage garden
• Browse bee and butterfly attracting plants
• Compare drought tolerant plants
• Ideas for low growing border planting

Common questions

How long does it live?

Three to five years is typical, and longer where drainage is excellent. The annual hard cut back in late winter makes the difference between a plant that renews itself and one that goes woody early.

Does it self seed and become a nuisance?

Seedlings do appear in open ground, though they are easy to pull and rarely travel far in a mulched bed. Cutting back in late winter removes most of the seed before it drops.

Why has mine stopped flowering?

Almost always too much shade or too much fertiliser. Give it a full day of sun, hold off the feeding, and shear off spent stems in midsummer to trigger a second flush.