Ксерантемум or Everlasting

Family Asteraceae. Name: derived from the Greek words 'xeros' - dry and 'anthemon' - flower, because of its wide use in dried bouquets.

Description: native range - the Mediterranean, the North Caucasus, the Balkans. Six species are known. Plants are annual herbs, erect, densely or woolly-pubescent. Leaves are alternately arranged, elongated or lanceolate. Inflorescences solitary, white, pink, purple. The decorative appearance of the inflorescences is given by the large petal-like scales of the multilayered involucre. Fruit - a wedge-shaped, brownish achene with a yellow or brown pappus. Up to 700 seeds per 1 g.

Occurs in Crimea, the Fore-Caucasus, southern Western Europe, and the Mediterranean. The plant is an annual herb. Stems erect, strongly branched, 50–60 cm tall. Leaves sessile, linear-lanceolate, arranged alternately. Stems and leaves are silky-woolly pubescent. Inflorescences are solitary heads, white, pink, lilac, 3.5–4 cm in diameter, on long, thin peduncles. Flowers small. The inner bracts of the multilayered involucre are petal-like, membranous, stiff, significantly longer than the flowers and of the same color. Blooms in July–September. Fruit - achene. Seeds in the conditions of the temperate zone ripen in August–September, retaining viability for 2–3 years. In cultivation since 1570.

Location: sites in sunny positions; cold-hardy.

Soil: undemanding, however performs better on light fertile soils. To obtain uniform seedlings, it requires sufficiently moist soil during the initial growth period, while from the start of budding and flowering it prefers drier conditions and does not require irrigation.

Care: simple and mainly consists of weeding and loosening the soil around the plants.

Propagation: by sowing seeds in March–April in boxes. Seedlings are pricked out, three per 9 cm pots. Planting of seedlings in the ground is done in late May–early June in a 25 x 20 cm scheme. Direct sowing into open beds is possible, but flowering will not occur before August in a good summer. In that case, seedlings must be thinned. In the middle zone and further south direct sowing in open ground is preferable, since the plant tolerates transplanting poorly. Further north it is better to grow by the seedling method, otherwise the plant will flower too late.

Uses: in landscaping Ксерантемум can be used in border plantings, flower beds and rockeries, but is mainly used as an everlasting for cutting; harvest when the heads are not fully open.

For drying inflorescences of ксерантсмума are cut at the stage of partial opening and dried by hanging in bundles in a dry shaded place. To give dried inflorescences a brighter color, before drying they can be dipped for 2–3 seconds in a weak solution of hydrochloric acid (1:12), then gently shaken and dried in the usual way.