Leontopodium alpinum Seeds | Edelweiss
LATIN NAME: Leontopodium alpinum
COMMON NAME: Edelweiss
Plant Profile
Leontopodium alpinum, better known as Edelweiss, is a perennial in the daisy family. Edelweiss holds its small, white, woolly, star-shaped flowers above felted, grey-green leaves, and the whole plant stands in the low, silvery clumps. It is a plant of open, sunny, sharp-draining ground. Not many plants ask so little and repay so much.
Science & Biotechnology
Leontopodium alpinum sits in the daisy family, a group that keeps botanists, horticulturists and plant breeders busy with questions of classification, adaptation and ornamental potential. Gardeners benefit directly from its long cultivation: what the plant will do in a garden is well understood.
Uses & Benefits
Edelweiss works well in borders, containers and dedicated beds. Edelweiss is a fine, quiet plant of rock garden and study collection. It is a fine, quiet plant of open, sunny, sharp-draining garden. Give young plants sharp-draining soil and open, sunny spot, and silvery heads will rise in summers to come. Thereafter it wants only the ordinary attentions any garden plant receives.
Edelweiss is the alpine icon, protected in the wild and now cultivated for cosmetics, where its antioxidant leontopodic acid is prized in anti-aging skin care.
Growing from Seed
Seed is the natural starting point for Edelweiss, and the process is uncomplicated. Fill a pot with a light seed compost, sow evenly on the surface, cover thinly and stand it somewhere warm, bright and evenly moist. Pot the young plants on as they grow, harden them off gradually, and plant them into their final positions when sturdy.
Our Take
It forms a perennial, which makes spacing and siting straightforward. Once established, Edelweiss largely looks after itself. Minor errors in timing or watering rarely cost the grower the crop.
Related Reading
Gardeners who grow Edelweiss often pair it with these related subjects: