The Wollziest can play a mediating role in the garden bed between color accents of roses and other flowering plants thanks to its silver-white leaf color. With this perennial plant, targeted pruning can promote compact growth.
When and how should you cut the Wollziest?
You can cut back the Wollziest in spring or autumn to promote compact growth. After flowering, remove the flower stalks but leave the leaves so that the plant can recharge before winter.
The best time to cut
Basically, the Wollziest is a very easy-care plant, where individual leaves and plant stems can be cut off for use as vase decorations or medicinal herbs all year round. Pruning to create a compact and he althy plant shape can be done either in spring or autumn. For visual reasons and for more gentle overwintering, it is advisable to remove the flower stalks of the Wollziest immediately after flowering, unless you rely on propagation by seeds. However, you should leave the leaf mass standing so that the Wollziest can recharge its batteries for the new season before winter.
Giving the Wollziest a visually perfect start to the season
Especially after long and wet winters, individual parts of the wool can appear battered. You should therefore check the plants again when cutting them immediately after flowering in the spring to give enough space for fresh growth. If the rather inconspicuous flowers are of little interest to you, you should still not remove them before they bloom. Many rare species of bees and other insects value the woolly zest as a summer food plant.
Cut off and dry the flowers of the Wollziest
The Wollziest is not only often used as a medicinal plant, but some of its flower stalks are also often dried for use in dry bouquets. This is very easy to do following the following steps:
- Cut the flowers in time before they fade on a hot day
- hang upside down in a well-ventilated, dry place
- For thicker bouquets, mix the flower stems a few times so that they can all dry equally well
Wollziest cultivars such as the visually impressive variety “Cotton Boll”, whose white inflorescences are surprisingly reminiscent of the shape of cotton, are particularly attractive for use in dry bouquets.
Tip
If you or someone you know has pets such as hares or rabbits, you do not need to throw cut plant material from the Wollziest into the compost without being used. In a balanced feed mixture, the somewhat bitter-tasting plant is also non-toxic for rodents and can enrich their diet.
