Helichrysum orientale (Yellow Immortelle)

£25.50 incl. VAT

Flat silver-green puberulent leaves. What a great word – touch the leaves and you’ll see what we mean. Perennial from North Africa, Crete, Turkey and Greece. The foliage grows to 30cms with clusters of yellow button flowers surrounded by neat papery bracts.

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Hardiness level Green

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A hardy and drought tolerant perennial from North Africa, Crete, Turkey and Greece with tufts of silvery grey foliage that are fuzzy and puberulent. What a fabulous word - touch the leaves and you’ll see (or feel) what we mean.

Their fondlable leaves are designed to reflect harsh light and appear to glow: the tight mounds of foliage grow about 30cms or so into rounded cushions and a nimbus of bright yellow flowers will hover all over the plant in summer. The flowers are very pretty, each bloom a little velvety button surrounded by neat papery bracts that crackle to the touch.

As it’s a very drought tolerant plant, a light sandy soil in full sun is best for plonking. It can fall prey to winter wet, and can be damaged by rain and heavy dews so it’s at its best in sun-drenched corners of Mediterranean schemes (obviously) or the kind of courtyard that traps the heat and swelters. ‘Worth growing in a crevice’, apparently, which seems reductive but I suppose that depends on how highly you value your crevices and whether or not you want them adorned. It definitely is a plant for narrow spots with really good drainage and looks especially evocative tumbling from cracks in boulders and spilling over brick walls. Looks magnificent rocketing out of a rocky scree or wending its way hither and thither around a gravel garden in fuzzy herds all hump-ily and bump-ily.

The dried flowers are a floristry stalwart and remain looking as alive as they once were (hence ‘Immortelle’) and incidentally, when dyed black have historically been used to make some very sombre mourning garlands.

N.B. When clipping several plants with the same tool, have a bucket containing a 5% bleach solution and swish your blades around for 30 seconds between plants to sterilise them. This will help avoid the chance of cross contamination of disease.

As with all woody plants, plant high, exposing as much of the taper at the base of the trunk as possible. Allowing soil to accumulate round the base of a tree can be fatal. Keep very well watered when first planted.

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