Annuals & Biennials

Helichrysum
everlasting, strawflower

- Height 1-4 ft (30-120 cm)
- Planting distance 1 ft (30 cm)
- Flowers midsummer to early fall
- Light, well-drained soil
- Open, sunny site
- Half-hardy annual

Helichrysum is a large genus including annuals, perennials, and shrubs. The most common annual species is Helichrysum bracteatum, and a number of cultivars have been developed from it, offering the gardener a wide choice of flower colors. The showy daisylike flowers of the annual species are familiar to flower arrangers, who often dry them for winter decoration. In the garden they are used to provide color from midsummer to early fall in borders and bedding displays - the dwarf species are also suitable for containers. The plants have midgreen lance-shaped leaves.

Popular species and cultivars
The following cultivars are readily available
'Bright Bikini' is a mixture of dwarf plants, 12-15 in (30-38 cm) high, bearing a profusion of flowers in bright colors.
'Candy Pink' has particularly large, double candy-pink colored blooms, 3 in (7.5 cm) wide and grows 3-4 ft (90-120 cm) tall.
'Golden' has golden flowers and reaches 3-4 ft (90-120 cm) high.
'Hot Bikini' is a dwarf cultivar reaching 12-15 in (30-38 cm) high with rich scarlet flowers.
'Monstrosum' has double flowers in white and shades of rose, crimson, yellow, and orange. The plants grow 1 ft (30 cm) high.
'Rose' has rose-pink flowers and reaches 3-4 ft (90-120 cm) high.
'Salmon Rose' has salmon-pink blooms and reaches 3-4 ft (90-120 cm) high.
'Silvery Rose' is a mixture of 21/2-3 ft (75-90 cm) tall plants with large double flowers of sulfur-yellow and clear rose-pink overlaid with silvery white.
'Snowhite' has double pure white flowers and reaches 3-4 ft (90-120 cm) high.

Annuals
and
Biennials