Antennaria plantaginifolia – Pussy Toes

Description

Antennaria plantaginifolia              (pussy toes)

Full Sun                      Zones: 3 – 8

Habit: Groundcover            H: 6 – 12″  x  W: 9 – 18″

A stoloniferous, mat-forming, woolly plant, with all of the leaves and flower stalks being woolly and grayish. Somewhat non-showy, fuzzy, white flowers, tinged with pink, bloom in spring. Flowers are crowded into terminal clusters (corymbs) atop small-leaved flowering stems rising to 10″ high from a basal rosette of paddle-shaped leaves (to 3″ long). Plants are dioecious (male and female flowers on separate plants), with male flowers typically appearing on shorter flower stalks.

Cultivation: Best grown in lean, gritty to rocky, dry to medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun. Does not do well in fertile, humusy soils, particularly if drainage is poor.

Utilization: Soft, gray foliage is arguably the best ornamental feature of this native perennial. Useful as a small area ground cover in rock gardens, rocky slopes, open woodland areas, prairie areas or other lean, rocky areas in the landscape.

Photo courtesy of Missouri Botanical Garden

Size: 2 quart premium pot