Lippia nodiflora 'New White'

Lippia nodiflora 'New White' in October 2018. Photo: SK Reid.

Summary

South Coast Research & Extension Center (South Coast REC/SCREC) is located in Irvine California, this site has a sandy loam soil and plants are irrigated with reclaimed water. UC Davis is located in Davis, California, this site has a silty clay loam soil and plants are irrigated with potable water. More information about the field sites is located in the Nuts & Bolts section.

Kurapia New White is a newer cultivar of a vigorous low growing plant marketed as a “utility groundcover” with white flowers. Kurapia New White was evaluated in a paired trial with the original Kurapia in 2018 at both UC Davis and South Coast REC. Plants were installed from #1 sized containers per trial practice – note this is different than how Kurapia is typically found in the market (sod & plugs). The plants were irrigated with drip rings located underneath the mulch and plant canopy – irrigation requirements may be different if irrigated overhead. A separate report was created for the Kurapia/New White trial, the text below provides a brief overview of performance – please review the report for more detailed information.

UC Davis Trial – Davis, CA

Overall, New White performed well at UC Davis earning a Blue Ribbon. New White had an average width of 100.6” and height of 10.9” at the end of the trial in October. Due to the size, these plants were pruned to a 1-meter (3.28’) diameter circle ahead of initial data to ensure plants wouldn’t grow into neighboring plants during the growing season. This caused plants to grow taller before spreading horizontally, resulting in a unique “donut” shape – we don’t anticipate this would be replicated in a traditional landscape setting. New White was less floriferous than the standard Kurapia, with flowering tapering down as the season progressed. Based on our results, we recommend irrigating Kurapia on WUCOLS Low Category of Water Needs in Region 2.

South Coast REC Trial – Irvine, CA

When the trial ended in October, New White had an average width of 119.4” and height of 8.4” at the end of the trial in October. Statistically, New White was much less floriferous than standard Kurapia. Due to the size, these plants were pruned to a 1-meter (3.28’) diameter circle ahead of initial data to ensure plants wouldn’t grow into neighboring plants during the growing season. This caused plants to grow taller before spreading horizontally, resulting in a unique “donut” shape – we don’t anticipate this would be replicated in a traditional landscape setting. As the season progressed overall appearance declined from July to October, though the mean overall appearance over the season ranged from 3.5 to 3.8, slightly better in some cases to the standard Kurapia. However, the low treatment in October had an overall appearance score of 2.9. As a result, in WUCOLS Region 3 we recommend irrigating New White on Low initially and changing to Medium/Moderate if plant performance is less than desired.

Basic Info

Growth and Quality Data

Click Here for Complete Data Set

Kurapia New White close up in Aug 2018. Photo by S.K. Reid