Pussytoes

Sun

Full sun; tolerates light shade, but mats become looser and flowering is reduced.

Water

Low once established. Water young plants during dry spells; avoid persistently damp soil.

Soil

Lean, gritty or sandy, sharply drained soil. Tolerates acidic to alkaline conditions; unsuitable for wet clay unless drainage is substantially improved.

Height

0.25-0.75 ft (0.08-0.23 m), including flower stems

Spread

1-2 ft (0.3-0.6 m), gradually spreading farther by rooting runners

Flowers

Late spring to early summer; clusters of small white or pink flower heads on short upright stems. Male and female flowers occur on separate plants.

Foliage

Small, spoon-shaped leaves in ground-hugging rosettes, green-grey to silvery above and white-felted beneath. Usually evergreen, though foliage may thin in severe winters.

Growth

Slow to moderate

Care needed

Low

• Pollinators
• Deer resistant
• Drought tolerant
• Cold hardy
• Low allergen

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Easy

Toughness

Very tough

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   0.1 ft (0.04 m)

2. After 1 year

   0.2 ft (0.07 m)

3. After 2 years

   0.4 ft (0.11 m)

4. After 3 years

   0.5 ft (0.15 m)

5. After 5 years

   0.5 ft (0.16 m)

   full size

About 3 years to full size.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Safe

Native to

the UK

Growth rate

Slow

• Water after planting and during prolonged dry spells in the first growing season; let the surface dry between waterings.
• Keep crowns above standing water, especially in winter; use a raised bed or gritty mound where drainage is poor.
• Avoid routine feeding or rich compost, which encourages loose growth.
• Use a thin gravel mulch rather than moisture-retaining organic mulch around the rosettes.
• Remove weeds by hand before they become rooted through the mat.
• Divide crowded or patchy mats in spring and replant healthy rooted sections.

Pruning. After flowering, snip spent flower stems back to the foliage. Remove dead leaves and trim wandering runners in spring or after flowering; do not cut the whole mat hard into bare growth.

Spring

Plant in a sunny, freely drained position and water in thoroughly.

Spring

Clear dead foliage and divide mats that have become patchy or overcrowded.

Late spring

Pull weeds from between rosettes before flowering stems make access difficult.

Early summer

Clip off faded flower stems if you want a tidy foliage mat.

Summer

Water newly planted patches during extended drought; avoid frequent light watering.

Autumn

Clear fallen leaves from the mat and check that water drains away from the crowns.

• Plant between rocks or along a scree bed, where its low silver mats soften hard edges.
• Edge a sunny gravel path with small patches, keeping plants out of regularly walked areas.
• Combine with creeping thyme and low sedums for contrasting foliage textures in a dry bed.
• Use in a shallow alpine trough with generous drainage and other small, slow-growing plants.

Garden styles it suits: Alpine rock garden, Dry gravel garden, Mountain lodge, Low-maintenance, Desert / xeriscape and Small-space.

Plant it with: Creeping thyme, Moss phlox, Rock rose, Goldmoss stonecrop, Alpine pinks and Purple rock cress.

Wildlife: The flowers offer nectar and pollen to small insects. Keep some flower heads rather than removing them all immediately after bloom.

• Crown and root rot in wet soil: improve drainage or move healthy rooted sections to a raised, gritty site.
• Thin or open mats in shade or rich soil: move to full sun and stop feeding.
• Summer dieback in hot, humid conditions: avoid overhead watering and crowded planting; choose a cooler, airy position.
• Weeds invading the mat: hand-weed early and maintain a gravel margin around the patch.

Not known to be toxic to people, cats, dogs or horses. Species-specific safety information is limited, and no part should be treated as food.

• Plantain-leaved pussytoes (Antennaria plantaginifolia)

  Has broader, plantain-like basal leaves with several conspicuous lengthwise veins; A. dioica has smaller, narrower leaves with one main vein.

• Pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea)

  Forms much taller, upright clumps with narrow leaves along leafy stems and larger clusters of papery white flower heads, rather than a low mat of rosettes.

Pussytoes refers to the soft, paw-like flower clusters, while dioica means that male and female flowers are borne on separate plants.

Propagation. Divide rooted runners or small sections of the mat in spring or early autumn. Sow seed in a gritty seed compost, pressing it onto the surface; seedlings may vary. Seed production requires both male and female plants nearby.

Accepted botanical name

Antennaria dioica

In the US and Canada

Native in Alaska.

Native range

Albania, Aleutian Is., Altay, Amur, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Buryatiya, Central European Rus and China North-Central.

Measured

Soil pH 4.5 to 5. Average height 3 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.