Gaura

Oneothera lindheimeri, aka ‘Gaura’, ‘Wand Flower’

Gaura has become the sweetheart of the naturalistic garden. No wonder ~ it’s a powerhouse of care-free blooms and pollinator activity. It whirls around with the slightest breeze, bobbing and weaving with comic delight as nectar-seeking bumblebees land on its butterfly blossoms! As gaura grows, new blooms are produced at the ‘wand’ tips, growing longer and longer with each passing week. Few perennials bloom as long and with as much enthusiasm!

Designing with gaura:

I can’t get enough gaura and use it as a ‘matrix’ plant in garden beds as well as in tall containers. It produces new flowers every few days at the tip of each stem, effectively pushing off spent blooms, therefore achieving the status of ‘self-cleaning’!

By late summer, gaura stems cascade gracefully through neighboring plants ~ the tiny butterfly shaped blooms hovering and dancing through the garden. It’s a truly magical plant!

varieties of gaura

My long-time favorite is the aptly named ‘Whirling Butterflies’ which sports white blooms on pink stems. This variety can grow quite tall, so for smaller areas, I recommend ‘Rosy Jane’ which is shorter and soft pink.

Note: gaura can succumb during especially cold winters, so I recommend giving it a bit of extra insulation with fallen leaves. I also don’t cut it back in the fall, and this helps protect the crown.

Read more about this fascinating plant here!

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