Can i trim dusty miller

What the flowers do is that they divert energy from the foliage. In other words, they suck nutrients from your plant and might be the cause that your plants grow up lanky in the future. However, most of the gardeners remove the flowers as soon as they appear on the plants.

So should you. Besides, the experts demotivate you to prune your dusty miller plants. So do we. You see, they are meant to be free. Well, if you want your plants to look more organized, you can prune them now. We may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Table Of Contents. Any Other Care for Your Plant? Author Recent Posts. Richard Allen. By profession, I've been a Cytogenetic Technologist for about 24 years of my career. Some varieties are very lacy and fine, while others are only slightly lobed.

Mugwort plants Artemisia spp. However, mugworts are more reliably hardy to zone 4 and also grow in a more mounding shape, in contrast to the upright form of silver dust. Mugworts are even more drought tolerant than silver dust due to their deeper perennial root systems and are good candidates for the rock garden. Silver dust plants require no pruning to maintain their pleasing bushy shape. If you feel that the yellow blooms detract from the plants, shear them off as they appear.

You can propagate silver dust by cuttings in the spring when plants are putting out the most rapid new growth. Fill your garden beds with silver dust by starting a flat of seeds six weeks before the last frost. Cover seeds lightly with sterile potting mix, and grow at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. You will start to see germination in about 10 days. Plant outdoors 8 inches apart in pots, or 10 inches apart in the ground.

Silver dust looks fantastic in all kinds of containers, including hanging baskets and window boxes. The finely divided foliage looks so pretty combined with the trailing stems of petunias or million bells , and also makes a handsome companion plant for other sun lovers like zinnias , pentas , or salvia.

Keep your container in full sun, and water more frequently than plants growing in the ground, at least every other day in summer. Pot up silver dust with any commercial potting soil. Make sure your container has drainage holes. Add a handful of peat moss to increase acidity. A layer of mulch on the soil will retain water and keep the soil from splashing onto the leaves.

It's time to repot when you see roots coming out of the drainage hole. Silver dust is tolerant of cold weather, but you can reduce its watering in the late summer to ready it for winter.

Prune it back with sharp and sterile shears to just above ground level and mulch with lighter pine needles or straw. Slugs enjoy snacking on silver dust plants, especially in flowerbeds that receive frequent irrigation.

Handpick the pests, or use beer traps to control their numbers. In addition to attracting slugs, excessive watering can cause root rot in silver dust plants. This is more of a problem in clay soils, but you can prevent it by growing your silver dust plants in containers or raised beds in areas with heavy soil.

Capinera, John L. Although blooming is delayed by a few weeks, the plant comes back healthier than ever. A less painful way to prune in midsummer is to prune one long stem every few days, which also results in a more natural appearance. Make each cut just above a leaf or leaf node, and the plant will send out new growth at each cut. Dusty miller is grown primarily for its striking foliage; however, clusters of long-stemmed, creamy white or yellow flowers develop on the plant in summer.

Most gardeners prefer to remove the blooms, as the rather unattractive flowers divert energy from the foliage. Pinching back the flowers as soon as they appears encourages healthy growth of the leaves. Bright sunlight brings out the best in dusty miller. In shade, the foliage is sparse, loose and more likely to become long and leggy, while plants grown in sunlight are leafy, dense and brilliant white.

In mild climates, dusty miller remains attractive until after the first light frost and then reappears in spring.