Gaura

Gaura – known by many names, is a low maintenance perennial with a long bloom time. Wiry flower stems “float” high above the base of the plant making them perfect for the back of the bed.

They thrive in full sun and poor, well drained soil. They are drought tolerant once established and do not require fertilizer but can tolerate it.

Gaura plants have a long tap root that makes transplanting difficult. See my note below.

My Experience:

Another backbone of my high desert garden, Gaura is such low maintenance that you can plant it and forget it. Placed behind lower growing plants it adds texture and movement to your garden. Due to our dry heat I find it necessary to cut it back mid summer to encourage a new wave of blooming.

Gaura I have found is most effective if planted close together in waves of plants. Unless you have it in a mass their small flowers do not make much of an impact.

Gaura also needs to be staked. Their long stems tend to bend and flatten among other plants. Some use tomato cages when the plants are small. I have made a lattice from branches that I place over the plant and feed the stems through as it grows.

Gaura has a long tap root. Digging out the plant to move or divide is rarely successful. It does self sow – although not so prolifically as to be a problem.  Every spring I find shoots that can carefully be extricated and replanted. And it never fails that through the growing season a new plant will emerge in the most unlikely place.

To date I have not yet tried propagation by cutting – I will keep you posted!

Gaura in my winter garden