Alpine fans and plant lovers revere edelweiss as the symbol of the high mountains. A rarity in the wild, the delicate plant with its pretty starry flowers thrives wonderfully in the rock garden at home. You can find out all the important details about growing Leontopodium here.
How do you properly care for edelweiss in the garden?
In order to successfully cultivate edelweiss in the garden, the plant needs a location in full sun and lean, calcareous and well-drained soil. Regular watering in dry conditions and an addition of lime in spring promote growth and flower formation.
Planting Edelweiss correctly
To perfectly prepare the soil for the alpine flower, rake the soil thoroughly. Mix sand, gravel or grit into loamy garden soil and add some rock dust. Dig a small pit in this substrate that is a maximum of twice the size of the root ball. Now pot up the plant, place it in the middle and fill the planting hole with the emaciated excavation. Firm the soil with both hands and water. The planting depth should correspond to that in the cultivation pot. A mulch layer of gravel or chippings is beneficial for rapid growth.read more
Care tips
Edelweiss has a record-breakingly short care program:
- Watering in summer droughts
- Do not fertilize
- Sprinkle vital lime in spring and work it in lightly
- Cut off wilted flowers close to the ground if necessary
If you care for the flower in the pot, it should spend the winter in unheated, frost-free quarters. Although the plant is hardy, the root ball must not freeze.read more
Which location is suitable?
Edelweiss is an unconditional sun worshiper. In full sun in poor, sandy-loamy and calcareous soil, the plant provides convincing evidence for the choice of its name, as it develops a noble shape and bright white starry flowers. Preferably plant the flower here:
- Rock Garden
- gravel bed
- Drywall
- Alpinarium
read more
The correct planting distance
Edelweiss makes an impressive appearance in small groups. A planting distance of 15 to 20 centimeters is ideal for a decorative arrangement in the bed. If you cultivate the flower in a pot or balcony box, a distance of 10 to 12 centimeters from the plant neighbor is sufficient.
What soil does the plant need?
Edelweiss requires an earth with the following attributes:
- Lean and chalky
- Sandy-dry, fresh soil and well-drained
In the planter, the plant enjoys a mix of standard soil, quartz sand and expanded clay. Avoid adding compost or horn shavings, but enrich the substrate with a little rock dust.
What is the best time to plant?
Planting time for edelweiss is all year round, as long as the ground is not frozen. They offer the plant the best growth conditions with planting between March and May.
When is flowering time?
From June to August/September, an edelweiss presents its white starry flowers. In fact, there are several white-felt bracts that attract insects to the actual tubular flowers in the middle of the white-felt star.read more
Cut Edelweiss correctly
Edelweiss does not receive a pruning in the actual sense. To ensure a well-groomed appearance in the bed and planter, hobby gardeners still use scissors after the flowers have bloomed. The dried stems are cut off close to the ground in late autumn or early spring. Before the fresh shoots appear in spring, the drawn-in leaves should be removed to make space.read more
Watering Edelweiss
In the local regions, the natural rainfall is enough to quench the small thirst of the alpine flower in the rock garden or gravel bed. Check the moisture content of the substrate in the planter every few days using a thumb test. Only when the top 5 centimeters are dry is it watered a little. The plant does not want to be confronted with drought stress or waterlogging.
Fertilize Edelweiss properly
Edelweiss is never fertilized because the location should remain poor and only marginally rich in humus. If fertilizer gets onto the plant, the best case scenario is that the flowers and leaves turn green. As a rule, the flower dies as a result of nutrient shock. Nevertheless, the addition of a little garden lime proves to be beneficial for growth and the abundance of flowers.
Pests
The pleasantly sweet scent of the legendary flower unfortunately attracts snails in droves to feast on it. To protect the plant from destruction, the following approaches are available:
- Planting the flower with a protective snail collar
- An entire bed surrounded by a snail fence
- Create a traveling barrier made of sharp materials, such as chippings or sawdust
If the snail invasion gets out of hand, control agents such as slug pellets should only be applied in crack traps. This special construction denies access to the harmless shell snails so that they do not lose their lives unnecessarily.
Wintering
Edelweiss is completely hardy. The plant should still be protected from constant winter wetness. If you cover the withered flower with brushwood or pine fronds before the first frost, the danger of meltwater or constant rain is largely averted. If you care for the plant in a balcony box or pot, ideally carry the container to a frost-free winter quarters with temperatures around 5 degrees Celsius. If there is no adequate space available, proceed as follows:
- Cover the planter with bubble wrap or bubble wrap
- Place on a block of wood or Styrofoam plate
- Cover the substrate with brushwood or leaves
read more
Propagate Edelweiss
Over time, edelweiss develops larger clumps in the bed. These provide a perfect basis for uncomplicated propagation through division. In spring or fall, dig up the plant to divide the root ball into two or more segments. Each section should have at least 2 shoots. In the new location, plant the rejuvenated edelweiss just as deep as before.
For pure propagation by sowing, specialist retailers offer certified seeds. How to grow edelweiss from seeds:
- Fill the seed tray with coconut fiber, vermiculite or peat sand
- Mix the very fine seeds with bird sand and sow
- Do not sieve over the light germinators, just press them down
- Water from below and place in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator or cold house for 4 weeks
Following stratification, germination begins within 4 weeks in a partially shaded location at 18-20 degrees Celsius. Until the young plants are transplanted after another 4 weeks, place the container at 15 degrees a little cooler and brighter.
Edelweiss in a pot
In stone planters, edelweiss sets decorative accents in the company of small sedum and spurge species. As a solitary plant in a small pot, the flower also exudes its alpine charm. Use a mix of standard soil, sand and perlite as a substrate. A drainage system made of grit above the water drain in the bottom of the pot reliably prevents harmful waterlogging. If you use a saucer, it should be filled with pebbles so that no rain or irrigation water can collect here and rise into the substrate due to capillary force. How to care for the plant properly:
- Only water when it is dry
- Do not give fertilizer
- Cut off the withered flowers for visual reasons
- Remove the remaining leaves in spring at the latest
read more
Brown leaves
If the leaves on edelweiss turn brown, this damage indicates a failure in care. In this way, the mountain flower reacts to both drought stress and waterlogging. If summer is dry, water the plant in the early morning or late evening to prevent the root ball from drying out. However, if the flower is exposed to constant rain or is watered too intensively, the water balance becomes unbalanced and the leaves first turn yellowish and later brown.
Is Edelweiss protected?
The botanical landmark of the high mountains is almost extinct in the wild. Discovering an edelweiss in the Alps is considered a sensation. You should leave it to an admiring look and a photo, because Leontopodium is under nature protection. In 1886, edelweiss was the first plant to receive this special status, which is still valid today. Aside from the fact that picking is usually done at the risk of life, removing edelweiss from nature is punishable by heavy fines.
How do I care for edelweiss after flowering?
After the summer flowering period, the flower stems dry up. You can either leave the withered edelweiss in the garden or cut the plant off close to the ground. A pruning is therefore only considered for optical reasons.
Trivia
Edelweiss is considered a symbol of heroic daring. The plant served as an identification symbol for the legendary Edelweiss Pirates during the Nazi era. Today the flower functions, among other things, as the logo for the mountain rescuers in Austria. Austria also pays respect to the iconic flower by adorning the 2 cent coin and issuing the first embroidered stamp in 2005.
Beautiful varieties
- Matterhorn: the compact growing variety forms dense cushions of edelweiss
- Mont Blanc: the ideal edelweiss for the sunny rock garden in the lowlands
- Mignon: with a growth height of 5-10 cm, a magnificent candidate for the creative table garden
- Alpine star: beautiful white star blossoms over woolly, silvery shimmering leaves
