Description
Dusty Miller
Dusty miller is the common name of several plants with grey or silver leaves. The one commonly used as an annual bedding plant is actually a perennial shrub native to the Mediterranean. It is typically grown for its ornamental foliage. The leaves of this herbaceous species are covered with fine matted hairs, giving them a felted or woolly, silver or white appearance. When wet the underlying green leaf becomes more visible, and the white color is not as intense when grown in the shade. Coloration can also vary with the cultivar. The 2-6″ long leaves are arranged alternately or spirally along the stiff, hairy stems. The simple leaves are lance shaped and variously indented or cut with numerous lobes, many times appearing pinnately compound. Cultivars vary tremendously in the amount of dissection from just slightly sinute to an almost lace-like appearance, offering a wide range of medium to fine textures. Being of Mediterranean origin, dusty miller is heat and drought tolerant and does best in full sun. It will it become leggy when grown in shade. Although it performs best in moist, well-drained, moderately rich soils, it is tolerant of poor soils. It will last past the first frost, but the leaves die back when temperatures are consistently below freezing.
