White Diosma

White Diosma (Coleonema album), also sold as white breath of heaven, is a rounded aromatic shrub about 1.5m tall and wide that clips into one of the neatest informal hedges available. The fine needle foliage releases a sharp citrus scent whenever you brush past or run the shears over it, and small white flowers cover the bush from late winter into spring.

Why you'll love it

• Scent you trigger by walking past. The leaves are heavily aromatic, so a plant beside a path earns its keep every time someone touches it.
• It clips beautifully. Fine foliage on dense twiggy growth gives a smooth even face, softer than a clipped box hedge.
• White flowers in late winter. Masses of small flowers arrive when little else is out, drawing bees and butterflies.
• Coastal and wind tolerant. Salt laden wind does not burn it, so it holds up in exposed front gardens.
• Drought tolerant and low maintenance. Once established it wants an occasional deep soak and a trim after flowering. No spraying, no staking.

Where it works best

Hedging and borders. Plant 80cm apart for a dense hedge. Plants meet in two seasons and hold anywhere from 60cm to 1.5m depending on how hard you trim.

Mass planting. On a bank or a wide bed, set plants on an 80cm grid for a continuous carpet of aromatic foliage.

Coastal gardens and pots. It handles salt and wind on a beachside block, and a pot 400mm or wider makes a tidy scented ball.

Growing White Diosma in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun gives the densest growth and heaviest flowering; in part shade the bush opens up. It suits warm temperate, cool temperate, subtropical and Mediterranean gardens, and takes light frost only, so hard frosting inland districts and the tablelands are outside its range.

Soil. Drainage matters more than fertility. Sandy and gravelly soils are ideal. On clay, plant on a mound at least 200mm high, because roots sitting wet through winter cause most sudden losses.

Water and feed. Deep water weekly through the first summer, then only in long dry spells. Feed once in early spring with a light application of complete slow release fertiliser. Rich soil and heavy feeding produce soft growth that flops.

Pruning. Trim straight after flowering, taking about a third of the new growth, and again lightly in late summer. It does not reshoot from bare inner wood, so once a plant is woody at the base there is no starting again.

What to expect when it arrives

We grow it in two sizes. A tube is a young single stemmed plant and the sensible choice for a long hedge, since a 10m run at 80cm spacing needs a dozen plants and tubes catch up with larger stock inside two seasons. The 140mm pack of 10 gives a bigger plant on day one and covers a full hedge run in one order.

Tip prune from the first season to build density low down. Diosma is not a long lived shrub: expect eight to ten years from a well drained plant, after which replacement is normal. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery, and every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• How to create a great hedge
• More fragrant plants for paths and entries
• Compare our best hedging plants
• Westringia care guide, the native alternative

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it for a hedge?

Eighty centimetres apart in a single row. Closer planting does not close the hedge any faster and congests the base, which encourages the woody bare patches diosma is prone to.

Why has my diosma gone brown in the middle?

Usually wet roots, or a hedge left untrimmed too long and then cut back hard. The answer is sharp drainage and a light trim after every flowering.

Will it grow in a frosty garden?

It takes light frost only. In cold inland or tableland gardens the growth burns and plants are short lived, so choose a hardier shrub or use a pot you can shelter.