General Culture:

Easily grown in average, medium to wet, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Prefers humusy, consistently moist soils. Foliage tends to depreciate rapidly if soils are allowed to dry out.

Noteworthy Characteristics:

Native to the Himalayas, pearly everlastings are generally upright, clump-forming plants that typically grow 12-24” tall on zigzag stems. Each small, rounded, discoid flower head (to 3/4” diameter) has a yellow-centered disk surrounded by a collar of fuzzy, thread-like, papery, white bracts. Flowers appear in dense, domed clusters (corymbs) over a long mid-summer to fall bloom period. Very narrow, obovate to elliptic-obovate leaves (to 5” long) are gray above and woolly-white beneath. Leaves are usually 3-veined (infrequently 5), thus giving rise to another common name for this plant of three-veined everlasting. Although taller, pearly everlastings are reminiscent of pussy toes (see Antennaria plantaginifolia – Q460). Good fresh cut flower. Dried flowerheads are sometimes dipped in various bright colored dyes for showy, albeit artificial, dried arrangements.