Best used as a foliage plant, this plant’s intricately cut, frosty-silver leaves produce a large, elegant arching mound. It also bears pale lavender-blue pin-cushion flowers on lanky 30-inch stems in late spring.
Noteworthy CharacteristicsGreat as fillers for containers and as summer bedding annuals. Related to the annual bachelor button.
CarePrune off flower buds to encourage the plant's dramatic foliage, or let them blossom and use the flowers in bouquets. Once plants flower, they tend to sprawl open from the center. Grow in well-drained but moist soil in full sun.
PropagationEasily grown from seed, or take cuttings in fall before frost.
ProblemsWhite mold, rust, downy and powdery mildew, thread blight, and Southern blight can occur.
- Genus : Centaurea
- Plant Height : 1 to 3 feet
- Zones : 10, 11, 7, 8, 9
- Plant Width : 6 to 12 inches
- Plant Type : Annuals
- Uses : Containers
- Light : Full Sun
- Moisture : Medium Moisture
- Maintenance : Moderate
- Characteristics : Showy Foliage
- Foliage Color : Silver/Grey
- Plant Seasonal Interest : Spring Interest
- Bloom Time : Summer
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