Perennial dusty miller resents wet feet, so grow it in well-drained soil. It will thrive in ordinary soil as well as dry, sandy soil. In ideal conditions, it spreads readily and will smother its weaker neighbors; make sure they’re strong enough to hold their own. Dusty miller’s spreading habit makes it easy to produce new stock; just dig up the clumps in early spring, pull them apart into good-sized chunks, and replant them with the underground stems just below the surface of the soil. Though many people remove the flowers, it doesn’t harm the plant to leave them on. Some flower arrangers find the spikes useful as fillers in small bouquets.
Also known as beach wormwood and old woman, perennial dusty miller is very hardy. The entire plant is densely clothed with feltlike silvery gray hairs that are very soft to the touch. Though dusty miller belongs to the daisy family, its yellowish flowers are not showy, and many gardeners remove them as they bloom. The plants have a spreading habit, growing three to four times as wide as their height of 1 to 2½ feet.
ZONES: 3–8
BLOOM TIME: Small, insignificant blooms in summer
LIGHT: Full sun
HEIGHT: 12–30 Inches
INTEREST: Densely felted gray foliage
This plant can be grown in a rock garden or at the front edge of a border with low-growing perennials, annuals, or dwarf shrubs. It can also be underplanted with miniature bulbs, such as crocuses, dwarf irises, and dwarf daffodils, or it can act as a ground cover for a dry, sandy bank. Combine perennial dusty miller with other dwarf plants to line a path or use in window boxes. It is unsuitable for the Deep South—in hot, humid climates, replace perennial dusty miller with the annual dusty miller, Senecio cineraria; it behaves like a perennial in mild climates.