Dusty Miller

(Asteraceae [also known as Compositae] - Daisy Family)

Form

• small to medium-sized annual (half-hardy perennial in mild zone 5 or zone 6 Winters, when mulched)
• maturing at about 8" to 15" tall with a similar width
• upright clump growth habit

Culture

• full sun to partial shade
• performs best in full sun in moist, well-drained, moderately rich soils, but is very tolerant of drought and poor soils
• propagated primarily by seeds, but also by rooted cuttings
• Daisy Family, with root rot, stem rot, and damping off during seedling growth being the primary diseases, and nematodes being the primary pest, but these are usually not a problem in most landscapes
• abundantly available in flats or seed packets
• when placed in partial shade or when irrigation or rainfall occurs, the true-green upper leaf surface becomes more exposed beneath the tomentose silvery hairs, creating a less-appealing foliage coloration
• when placed in microclimates that are semi-protected areas in Winter, plantings of Dusty Miller become half-hardy perennials (meaning that some live and some die) from zone 5 southward, whose crowns, after shearing off the dead stem tops, will emerge with vigorous new growth in the Spring

Foliage

• silvery-white, silvery-gray, or gray-green, attributable to the extreme woolly-pubescence of the thick leaves, having a clustered, alternate, or spiraled arrangement along the stem
• the simple leaves are slightly, moderately, or deeply sinuate and appear to be pinnately compound, with margins that are crenate along the numerous lobes
• cultivars differ in their degree of cutleaf (or dissected) character, and offer a wide range of laceyness and medium to fine textures

Flowers

• often not seen or not noticed when in bloom, the faded-yellow or cream small inflorescences are borne in terminal clusters, are sparse to non-existent, and are ornamentally insignificant, and should be live-headed so as not to detract from the ornamental silver foliage

Fruits

• ornamentally inconspicuous, when present

Twigs

• the branching stems are silvery-tomentose, like the foliage, but become nearly smooth and green at the base with age

Trunk

• not applicable

ID Summary

• silvery foliage of dissected (cutleaf) character, alternating along the silvery-green, generally upright stems, is the primary feature of this annual (or half-hardy perennial)

USAGE

Function

• found in beds, planters, or as an edging, useful as a foliage foil to other full-sun annuals, especially those with the cooler colors (pink, magenta, violet, blue-purple, etc.)

Texture

• medium to fine texture, depending upon the degree of cutleaf foliage character
• thick density

Assets

• silver-foliaged annual for sunny sites
• cultivars have different degrees of cutleaf character (and therefore a range of medium to fine textures)
• dead foliage in Autumn and Winter remains on the stems and, in mild Winters, looks almost as good as in late Summer
• salt-spray tolerant (for those areas where it can overwinter)

Liabilities

• silvery color fades to green-gray in shady situations

Habitat

• generally a hardy perennial from zones 8 southward; otherwise, a tender perennial, half-hardy perennial, or annual
• native to the Mediterranean

SELECTIONS

Alternates

• perennials or groundcovers that have silvery foliage (Antennaria dioica, Artemisia species, Cerastium tomentosum, Helichrysum petiolare, Perovskia atriplicifolia, Stachys byzantina, etc.)

Variants

• cultivars are selected on the basis of compactness, degree of cutleaf character, and intensity of silver foliage coloration

NOTES

Translation

• Senecio derives from the Latin word senex (translating as "old man", from which the English word senator is derived), and refers to the white fluffy seed heads that are prevalent in other species of the genus, resembling the white hair of an old man's head.
• cineraria translates as "ash-colored", referring to the gray or silvery color of the tomentose foliage.
• previously classified as Senecio maritimus or Cineraria maritima, where maritimus (-a) translates as "seashore".

Purpose

• Dusty Miller is an herbaceous plant that has silvery and often cutleaf foliage, a great complimentary foliage plant for flowering annuals that are located in sunny sites.

Summary

• Senecio cineraria is known as an annual with silvery-gray foliage that, although dead by late Autumn, persists throughout the Winter if it is not uprooted.