Gaura EVERLAST Viva Nova - Gaura lindheimeri

Gaura EVERLAST ‘Viva Nova' is a compact white Gaura lindheimeri designed for contemporary borders, natural gardens, and large containers in full sun. This light perennial, with a bushy habit, bears a multitude of small white butterfly-shaped flowers that enliven the garden from June until the frosts. The EVERLAST series, selected for its floriferousness and tolerance to high heat, allows you to enjoy the grace of gaura in a more regular plant, better suited to small gardens, terraces, and balconies.

From a botanical point of view, this cultivar belongs to the Onagraceae family and derives from the species Gaura lindheimeri, now named Oenothera lindheimeri. The species is native to the prairies and open pine woods of Texas and Louisiana, on well-drained, warm, and rather dry soils. 
Gaura ‘Viva Nova’ is a cultivar from the EVERLAST series developed and introduced by Kientzler Jungpflanzen around 2026. This series is characterised by a compact and bushy habit, dense and uniform vegetation, as well as numerous short flower spikes, well-suited to container cultivation. 'Viva Nova’ is a fast-growing perennial with a relatively short lifespan (3 to 5 years, depending on conditions). In the ground, the clump reaches 40 to 60 cm in height with a spread of 35 to 40 cm; in a pot, the plant remains a bit shorter, around 30 to 40 cm. The slender and flexible, slightly reddish stems bear lanceolate, 5 to 8 cm long, medium green, deciduous leaves. Flowering renews itself from June to October, in the form of loose spikes borne at the stem tips. The small, 2 to 3 cm across flowers, have four white or creamy white tepals and open successively, giving the impression of a cloud of butterflies. 
This plant does not sucker, the clump remains well-defined.

In the garden, Gaura EVERLAST ‘Viva Nova’ should be placed in full sun, in a light, sandy or stony, well-drained soil. It fits into a natural-style border with low ornamental grasses and dryland perennials. It can be used along a path to create a haze of white flowers, or in a large container on a sheltered terrace. You can pair it with Salvia microphylla ‘Delice Aquamarine’, a shrubby sage with pale blue flowers, Pennisetum orientale ‘Shogun’, a small ornamental grass with leaves finely tinged bronze and pinkish spikes, Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’ with pale yellow flowers, and Eryngium planum ‘Jade Frost’, a compact sea holly with rose-margined foliage which structures the whole and creates an architectural feature until late in the season.
In colder regions, a gravel mulch around the crown helps to preserve the plant in winter.

The Gaura genus owes its name to a Greek word evoking beauty or pride, while the epithet lindheimeri pays homage to the botanist Ferdinand Lindheimer, a collector of many Texan species in the 19th century. In regions where gaura is increasingly used in landscaping, particularly in dry gardens and prairie-style flower borders, it is often said that the introduction of Gaura lindheimeri to Europe in the 19th century helped introduce the general public to the flora of the North American prairies, whose light and naturalistic character it still evokes today.

Note: Please note, our young plug plants are reserved for experienced gardeners: upon receipt, pot them on and store them under cover (conservatory, greenhouse, cold frame...) at a temperature above 14°C for a few weeks before being planted outdoors once the risk of frost has completely passed.