Common Name: pearly everlasting
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Asteraceae
Native Range: Afghanistan to southwestern China
Zone: 3 to 9
Height: 1.50 to 2.00 feet
Spread: 0.75 to 1.50 feet
Bloom Time: July to August
Bloom Description: White with yellow centers
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium to wet
Maintenance: Low
Flower: Showy, Good Cut, Good Dried
Leaf: Colorful
Attracts: Butterflies
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
Anaphalis triplinervis, commonly called pearly everlasting, is native to the Himalayas. It is an 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). Good fresh cut flower. Dried flowerheads are sometimes dipped in various bright colored dyes for showy, albeit artificial, dried arrangements.
Genus name comes from the classical Greek name for another of the everlastings.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Caterpillars may chew on the foliage.
Uses
Attractive foliage and lengthy mid summer to fall bloom make this an excellent plant for cottage gardens or naturalized/wild gardens. Although flowers are not spectacularly showy, they can also be effective in border fronts.