We continue to talk about the forgotten plants that used to reign in homesteads, and then for various reasons disappeared from suburban life. Today we will talk about Helichrysum.
Currently, the demand for some of them is huge. What is the secret of their charm? Let’s figure it out together.
Helichrysum arenarium
All my childhood and school years, this plant grew on our estate. I don’t remember when or how we got it. Its main advantage was its choleretic properties.
Herbaceous felt-woolly perennial up to 30 cm tall. The leaves are simple, with a brownish tip at the top. Inflorescences-baskets spherical, the wrapper consists of an average of 45 lemon-yellow (less often – orange) leaves with a wide filmy edge; blooms in June-August.
The nuances of growing
Unlike its heat-loving relatives, it is frost-resistant: it tolerates -30°C for a short time. Extremely drought-resistant. A true ascetic about the soil is content with the poor.
Accommodation in the country
Nature seems to have created it specifically for rockeries, flower walls. Helichrysum arenarium looks beautiful among and against the background of stones.
Helichrysum bellidioides
Creeping evergreen perennial with a white – pubescent stem (at a young age, later-with a smooth, reddish-brown) up to 15 cm high and up to 60 cm wide.
He is originally from New Zealand. Leaves obovate, small, up to 1 cm long, white below. Head-shaped inflorescences up to 3 cm in diameter, white, single, papery, similar to Daisy baskets; located on straight peduncles covered with leaves; bloom from late spring to summer.
The nuances of growing
Its winter minimum is -15°C. At the same time, we must remember that it, like Lavandula, does not like stagnant waterlogging.
Accommodation in the country
It is better to plant in a high bed or flower garden on the terrace, a high stationary container, so that it does not get wet over the winter.
With compacted planting and cutting, it can be used as a border plant. Suitable for a gravel garden.
Helichrysum italicum
My favorite plant, so I really want it to return to the flower beds. 35 years ago, I first saw it in mixborders. It was actively propagated and implemented by some Botanical gardens. It perfectly complemented Lavandula, Garden roses, Nerium oleander. It was planted in the rockery among the stones.
In Helichrysum italicum, I like everything: elegant silvery stems and leaves, complemented by exquisite yellow inflorescences, a tart aroma with honey notes.
Grow faster. It has an interesting dwarf form ‘Dwarf Form’ (40 cm high, 60 cm wide), which is often called simply curry. The fact that the smell of its leaves is similar to the recognizable aroma of the famous seasoning, so ‘Dwarf’ is especially popular today.
The nuances of growing
My pet prefers heat, and can stand the winter temperature drop to just -10°C. Some of its varieties are more winter-hardy, such as ‘Korma’ (25 cm high and wide) for a short time will withstand -17°C. Extremely drought-resistant. Pruning is carried out during the flowering period or at the end of summer. It is desirable to rejuvenate by dividing every 3-4 years.
Accommodation in the country
It is luxurious in a mixborder of the Mediterranean style, magnificent in a spicy flower garden.
It can be grown in pots.
It is suitable for decorating the dry southern slope, flower wall.
This is a beautiful border and ground cover spicy-aromatic plant.
Helichrysum italicum looks equally beautiful with Garden roses and Nerium oleander.
Helichrysum milfordiae
One of the most beautiful species, especially good during budding.
Evergreen perennial cushion-like shape with a height of 5-10 cm and a width of 15-30 cm high, with rosette side shoots. He is originally from South Africa. The leaves are obovate, silvery, up to 1.5 cm long. Inflorescences are solitary, first white-pink, later almost white, 2.5-3 cm in diameter; they bloom in the spring.
The nuances of growing
It is given a critical -10°C, so Helichrysum milfordiae can be safely planted in open ground with shelter in the first year of planting. It can also be grown as a potted plant-with removal to the garden from spring to late autumn.
Accommodation in the country
You can dig a pot in the rockery or put it in a more interesting wide pot and place it on the southern outdoor terrace. It can be tried to grow in stony gardens and in open Sunny dry places as a ground cover plant. Like all its relatives, Helichrysum milfordiae does not tolerate waterlogging of the soil. In the South, exotic compositions with Agave, Yucca, and Dasylirion are very popular, the foreground of which is ideal for Helichrysum milfordiae.
Helichrysum petiolare
An evergreen perennial semi-shrub of a pillow-like shape, which is grown as an annual. He is originally from South Africa.
It is up to 50 cm high and up to 2 m wide. The leaves are heart-shaped, small, 3.5 cm long, silvery-gray, densely pubescent. The head-shaped inflorescences of cream flowers are nondescript.
Decorative varieties:
- ‘Aurea’, ‘Limelight’ -pale green, lime leaves;
- ‘Roundabout’ – miniature, 15 cm high and 30 cm wide; derived from ‘Variegatum’, so it often produces variegated shoots;
- ‘Variegatum’ – leaves are grey, with a cream irregular border.
The nuances of growing
It grows both in the sun and in the shade. Requires well-drained soil; tolerates dry conditions, but can die in very wet areas.
Accommodation in the country
In southern cottage, it can be used as a silvery groundcover. Looks nice from a low wall or stationary container. It is good in company with other drought-tolerant species: Lavandula, Nepeta, Monarda, and so on. Perfectly transfers pruning: it can be formed in the form of a semicircle, but the compact form can be maintained only with the help of garden shears.
Helichrysum thianschanicum
Cushion-shaped perennial up to 40 cm high and wide. He is from Central Asia. The leaves are silvery, elongated-lanceolate, up to 10 cm long. Inflorescences are yellow, small, up to 1 cm in diameter, collected in flaps up to 8 cm in diameter. Blooms from early to mid-summer.
It has varieties:
- ‘Icicles’ – leaves more emerald;
- ‘Goldkind’ – 30 cm high, yellow inflorescences, with the aroma of Levisticum officinale.
The nuances of growing
Its winter minimum is -15°C. it is Ascetic in terms of soil and irrigation, like all its relatives.
Accommodation in the country
Good in Sunny flower beds, containers. This is a beautiful background plant with silvery leaves. Suitable for mixed borders and rockeries.
Tell me which of the Helichrysum you are ready to invite to your cottage?
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