Strawflower Helichrysum bracteatum ‘Monstrosum’

LATIN NAME: Helichrysum bracteatum

COMMON NAME: Strawflower

Strawflower is the upright, papery-flowered annual of the sunny border, one of the most cherished of the everlasting flowers. The branched, upright plant carries the narrow, grey-green leaves and the many stiff, daisy-like heads with the bracts in the colours of the crimson, the salmon, the rose, the brown, the yellow and the white, so dry and crisp that they keep their good looks for years in the vase. The plant is a fine, easy, cheerful presence of the summer garden, and the cut heads need no more than a dry, airy room to dry. It is a plant of the open, sunny, well-drained ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

What draws the researchers is the way the strawflower’s stiff, papery bracts keep their colours so well. Researchers have looked at the way the bracts hold their form and colour in the dry state, and the plant keeps showing up in the work on the everlasting flowers, the cut-flower crops and the plants of the daisy family. The wide colour range of the crimson, the salmon, the rose, the brown, the yellow and the white has also made it a fine garden plant, and the strawflower is a regular subject of the studies of the dried flowers and the easy annuals of the sunny garden.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The strawflower earns its place in the garden and the flower studio. The stiff, papery bracts keep their colours and their crisp form for years in the dried arrangements, the wreaths and the crafts, and the plant is one of the most cherished of the everlasting flowers of the summer border. The wide colour range makes it a fine, easy cut flower, and the branched, upright plants give a long, cheerful display through the warm season. It has drawn attention in the international horticultural and the craft press for the lasting, papery heads and the wide colours, and it is a fine, easy plant of the open, sunny, well-drained garden.

The strawflower is one of the most cherished of the everlasting flowers, and the stiff, papery bracts keep their colours and their crisp form for years in the dried arrangements, the wreaths and the crafts. The wide colour range of the crimson, the salmon, the rose, the brown, the yellow and the white makes it a fine, easy cut flower of the summer border.

To grow the strawflower from seed, sow the fine seeds over the surface of pots of moist, free-draining soil, pressing them in gently, keep them in a bright, open spot and water gently. The seedlings come up within a couple of weeks and grow on fast. Give them the sun and the well-drained ground, and the papery heads will colour the border from the mid-summer on.

Common name:Xerochrysum bracteatum seeds

Most popular everlasting; long cherished for wide colour range: crimson, salmon, rose, brown, yellow, and white.