Common Name: everlasting flower
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Asteraceae
Zone: 7 to 11
Height: 0.50 to 1.00 feet
Spread: 0.50 to 1.00 feet
Bloom Time: June to August
Bloom Description: White bracts surrounding a central yellow disk
Sun: Full sun
Water: Dry to medium
Maintenance: Low
Flower: Showy, Good Dried
Tolerate: Shallow-Rocky Soil
Culture
Best grown in evenly moist to dry, very well-draining, poor to moderately fertile, sandy or gritty loams in full sun. Hardy in USDA Zones 7-11. Can also be container grown in colder climates and moved into a cold frame or cool greenhouse in the winter.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Helichrysum bellum is a herbaceous perennial native to rocky outcrops on the high summit plateaus of the Drakensberg in Lesotho and surrounding regions of South Africa at altitudes between 7,800-10,800'. Mature plants will reach up to 1' tall and spread to fill a similar area. The leaves are held in rosettes and emerge from a woody rootstock. The foliage is narrowly elliptic to narrowly spatulate (spoon-shaped) in shape and can reach 2-4" long and 0.5-0.75" wide. The leaves are covered in glandular hairs, with particularly woolly hairs along the margins of young leaves. The flowering stems are typically 6-10" tall and are covered in a layer of woolly hairs. They are topped with a single (rarely a pair) of 1" wide, daisy-type flower with papery, white bracts surrounding a head of small, yellow disk flowers in summer.
Genus name comes from the Greek words helios meaning the sun and chrysos meaning golden.
The specific epithet bellum means "pretty" or "beautiful".
Problems
No major pest or disease problems of note.
Uses
Mixed border fronts, rock gardens, gravel gardens, Mediterranean gardens. Suitable for use in containers. A long lasting cut flower for dried arrangements.