Edelweiss

Where do you find a plant that grows with ease? Well, if you look to a mountainside to see what is growing, that is a good start.

Edelweiss grows beautifully on mountainous terrain where sun scorches, wind batters, and snow comes in more than just a dusting. So if you have bit of terrain that is inhospitable to delicate flowers, try a flowering plant with great beauty and an inherent strength that allows it to persist in all sorts of conditions. Try Edelweiss, the national flower of both Austria and Switzerland.

Chalets and restaurants in those two countries and even in mountainous regions here in North America are sometimes named Edelweiss. Simple in form and easy to draw, it is no wonder its image has graced many items over time, right down to European currency. But I had never before realized the extent to which Edelweiss is admired in both Romania and Italy, where it adds beauty to the Carpathian Mountains and Italian Alps, just as it does to the Austrian and Swiss Alps.

With bracts, or leaves, in fuzzy white that is reminiscent of felt or wool, “noble white” Edelweiss is a little like the Dusty Miller that many of us are accustomed to in North America. But Dusty Miller is typically used as an annual, though I have had it come up perennially over a couple of years. Edelweiss is a hardy perennial, provided it is planted in the right Zones. It is strong and attractive.

Edelweiss needs little water. To the home gardener, this means that watering once a week will be sufficient once the plant takes hold. And although it appreciates slightly alkaline soils, this plant can handle almost anything, as long as its planting medium has good drainage.

On mountain slopes and elsewhere in nature, seeds do the work that allows Edelweiss to persist and multiply. But the home gardener will find that frequent plant division is the way to go in order to rejuvenate this plant that needs new life drawn into it every two or three years. Yes, home gardeners can allow it to go to seed, but plant division is really what keeps it thriving. 

This need for plant division hints at really the only way Edelweiss is anything other than tough. Surprisingly, it is a short-lived perennial when it comes to the number of years it will bloom vigorously. But by dividing and transplanting in spring (around every third year), new growth is prompted. The work is worthwhile. The plants that emerge can withstand harsh conditions. While its name is known, Edelweiss remains uncommon here in North America, and it is beautiful.

If you dig in Edelweiss as small plant starts, you can let them take hold before summer ends and then rest easy. In areas that get lots of snow, nothing needs to be done to protect this plant, which is so familiar with using a blanket of snow as a protective covering. In less snowy regions, a good covering of mulch will do the trick to ensure your plants come up next year, ready to flower from July to September. For flowers, the “wooly” bracts of Edelweiss come together to form a star shape, which surrounds a center made up of golden-yellow discs (its true “flowers”).

I must reveal that I have my own mound of inhospitable terrain right at my own home. This mound, regrettably positioned near my driveway where it is quite visible, hosts weeds more than anything else. Exposed to the elements and not watered enough by in-ground irrigation, this mound is, in one word, “difficult”.  No matter how much I try to cover it with a plant that will not only take hold but also handle what Nature sends its way, I have had only limited luck. But Edelweiss… well it is actually the perfect plant for this location.

My own ski lodge? My own alpine oasis? Well I know I will not achieve that. But Edelweiss will certainly help me to feel a bit like I am on vacation. And it will give me a vacation from worrying about what to plant on a mound that is far from easy.