Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea)
Pearly Everlasting Is a lovely, late season wildflower for the dry, sunny corners of your yard. They are pretty tolerant of most garden conditions, though they prefer good drainage (no wet feet). They tend to be a quick growing, shorter lived perennial that will self seed with tiny wind driven seeds. The flowers of Pearly Everlasting keep their shape and color in the garden when dried up and past their prime making them excellent for dried flower arrangements. They have very pretty, long and slender silvery-green foliage with a mounding form that blends nicely into most flower beds. Pearly Everlasting can grow up to 3 feet tall and 2-4 feet wide. Pearly Everlasting is dioecious, meaning there are both male and female plants. Only the female plants will develop fluffy seeds.
They are host plants for Painted Lady butterflies! These caterpillars will form a silky webbing around the plant while nursing/ feeding before they form their chrysalis. Don't worry, Pearly Everlasting co-evolved with these little caterpillars and will recover from any damage they incur and you'll be richer in butterflies!
Seeds are tiny and tend to have a static cling effect which makes counting seeds too challenging. Each packet contains 1/8 teaspoon of seeds (roughly 100 seeds) and germination instructions are included.
Pearly Everlasting at a glance
- Average growth dimensions - 1-3 ft tall x 1-2 ft wide
- Dormancy - Winter deciduous
- Plant type - Perennial herb
- Sun - Full sun - part shade
- Water - Moist - dry
- Flowering time - June - October
- Flower color - White with yellow centers
- Soil preference - Adaptable with good drainage