Lotus hirsutus

Often listed as Dorycnium hirsutum, Lotus hirsutus is a Mediterranean sub-shrub found growing wild in Portugal. It's a choice silver-leafed plant for warm and sunny areas, particularly gravel gardens and rockeries, where it forms a spreading mat from which small creamy pink flowers appear at the tips of stems and on sideshoots, in summer.

Grow Lotus hirsutus in very free-draining, gritty soil in full sun. Protect from frost in winter or take semi-ripe and overwinter under glass as an insurance against winter loss.