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Gray Honey Myrtle

Melaleuca incana

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Gray Honey Myrtle (Melaleuca incana) at Roger's Gardens

Gray Honey Myrtle

Gray Honey Myrtle

(Photo courtesy of NetPS Plant Finder)

Gray Honey Myrtle (Melaleuca incana) at Roger's Gardens

Gray Honey Myrtle foliage

Gray Honey Myrtle foliage

(Photo courtesy of NetPS Plant Finder)

Height:  6 feet

Spread:  10 feet

Sunlight:  full sun  partial shade 

Hardiness Zone:  8b

Description:

This evergreen shrub would make a unique addition to the landscape; its fine, gray needle-like foliage, gives it a soft appearance; gracefully arching branches are adorned with appealing pale-yellow bottlebrush flowers

Ornamental Features

Gray Honey Myrtle features showy creamy white frilly flowers along the branches from late spring to early summer, which emerge from distinctive red flower buds. It has attractive grayish green evergreen foliage. The tiny needles are highly ornamental and remain grayish green throughout the winter.

Landscape Attributes

Gray Honey Myrtle is a spreading evergreen shrub with a shapely form and gracefully arching branches. It lends an extremely fine and delicate texture to the landscape composition which can make it a great accent feature on this basis alone.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting bees to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Gray Honey Myrtle is recommended for the following landscape applications;

  • Mass Planting
  • General Garden Use
  • Groundcover

Planting & Growing

Gray Honey Myrtle will grow to be about 6 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 10 feet. It tends to fill out right to the ground and therefore doesn't necessarily require facer plants in front, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist growing conditions, but will not tolerate any standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for xeriscaping or the moisture-conserving landscape. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is not originally from North America.

 
 
Hardiness Zone Plant Height Minimum Sunlight
Characteristics
Massing  Garden  Groundcover 
Applications
Flowers  Foliage Color  Texture  Attracts Wildlife 
Ornamental Features