Gaura ‘Whirling Butterflies’ 400

Latin Name: Gaura lindheimeri 'Whirling Butterflies' (also classified as Oenothera lindheimeri 'Whirling Butterflies')

Common Name: Whirling Butterflies Gaura / Wandflower

Zones: 5–9

Height & Spread: 2.5–4 feet tall, spreading 2–3 feet wide

Descriptive Features: A Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit recipient and one of the most beloved gaura cultivars, prized for the graceful, fluttering movement its flowers bring to a planting. Forms an upright, well-branched clump of narrow, lance-shaped, gray-green foliage on wiry, wind-tolerant stems. From late spring clear through fall, an abundance of small, four-petaled white flowers blushed with pink open along long, airy panicles a few at a time, dancing above the foliage on the slightest breeze like a flurry of tiny butterflies — the source of its evocative name. A deep taproot makes it exceptionally drought-tolerant once established, and it performs best in lean to average, well-drained soil, where richer, overly fertile conditions can cause it to sprawl and flop. Regular deadheading extends the already long bloom season, while a hard cutback in early spring keeps the clump vigorous and tidy. Deer- and rabbit-resistant, and a strong draw for bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds throughout its months-long flowering display. An excellent choice for cottage gardens, gravel gardens, pollinator borders, or as an airy filler among bolder perennials in full sun to light shade.