Plant, cultivate, propagate and more

Alpine fans and plant lovers adore edelweiss as the symbol of the high mountains. A rarity in the wild, the dainty plant with the pretty starry flowers thrives wonderfully in the rock garden at home. You can find out all the important details about growing Leontopodium here.

Plant edelweiss correctly

To perfectly prepare the soil for the alpine flower, rake the soil thoroughly. Mix in loamy garden soil with sand, gravel or grit and add some rock flour added. In this substrate you dig a small pit that is at most twice as big as the root ball. Now unpot the plant, insert 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 seed pot. A mulch layer of gravel or grit is beneficial for rapid growth.
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care tips

edelweiss has a record-breakingly short maintenance program:

Water in summer drought
Don't fertilize
Scatter vital lime in the spring and work in lightly
If necessary, cut off faded flowers close to the ground

If you take care of the flower in a pot, it should spend the winter in an unheated, frost-free area. Although the plant is hardy, the root ball must not freeze through.
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Which location is suitable?

Edelweiss is an unconditional sun worshiper. In full sun in lean, sandy-loamy and calcareous soil, the plant produces the convincing evidence for the choice of her name, for she develops a noble figure and brilliant white star blossoms. Plant the flower preferably here:

rock garden
gravel bed
drywall
Alpinarium

The right planting distance

Edelweiß is impressive in small groups. A planting distance of 15 to 20 centimeters is very suitable 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 a soil with the following attributes:

Lean and chalky
Sandy-dry, fresh soil and well-drained

In the planter, the plant is happy about a mix of standard soil, quartz sand and expanded clay. Do not add compost or horn shavings, instead enrich the substrate with a little rock flour.

What is the best planting time?

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, it is a matter of several white-tomentose bracts that attract insects to the actual tubular flowers in the middle of the white-tomentose star.
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Cut edelweiss correctly

Edelweiss does not receive a pruning in the true sense. For a well-groomed appearance in the bed and planter, hobby gardeners still reach for the scissors after flowering. The dried stems are cut off close to the ground in late autumn or early spring. Before fresh sprouting in spring, the fallen leaves should be removed to make room.
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Pour edelweiss

In the local regions, the natural rainfall is sufficient to quench the little 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 with a thumb test. Only when the top 5 centimeters have dried 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 lean and only marginally humus. If fertilizer gets to the plant, the best-case scenario is that the flowers and leaves turn green. Usually the flower dies as a result of nutrient shock. Despite this, the gift of a little proves garden lime beneficial for growth and abundance of flowers.

pests

Unfortunately, the pleasantly sweet scent of the legendary flower attracts hordes of slugs to feast on it. In order to protect the plant from destruction, the following procedures are available:

Plant the flower with a protective snail collar
A whole bed surrounded by a snail fence
Set up a moving barrier made of sharp materials such as chippings or sawdust

If the snail invasion gets the upper hand, control agents such as slug pellets should only be used in gap traps. This special construction denies the harmless snails access so that they do not lose their lives unnecessarily.

hibernate

Edelweiss is completely hardy. However, the plant should be protected from permanent winter wetness. If you cover the withered flower with brushwood or pine fronds before the first frost, the danger from melt water or continuous rain is largely averted. If you take care of the plant in the window box or pot, ideally take the container to a frost-free winter quarters with temperatures around 5 degrees Celsius. If no adequate space is available, proceed as follows:

Cover the planter with bubble wrap or bubble wrap
Stand on a block of wood or styrofoam
Cover the substrate with brushwood or leaves

Grow edelweiss

Over time, edelweiss will develop larger clumps in the bed. These provide a perfect basis for uncomplicated propagation by 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. At the new location, plant the rejuvenated edelweiss just as deeply as before.

For a varietal propagation by means of sowing the specialist trade offers certified seeds. How to grow edelweiss from seed:

Fill the seed tray with coconut fibers, vermiculite or peat sand
Mix the very fine seeds with bird sand and sow
Do not sieve the light germs, just press them down
Water from below and place in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator or cold store 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 pricked out after another 4 weeks, place the container at 15 degrees a little cooler and lighter.

Edelweiss in a pot

In stone planters, edelweiss sets decorative accents in the company of small sedum and spurge species. As a solitaire in a small pot, the flower also spreads its alpine charm. Use a mix of standard soil, sand and perlite as a substrate. Above the water drain in the bottom of the pot, drainage made of grit 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, which rises into the substrate due to capillary force. How to properly care for the plant:

Water only when dry
Don't give fertilizer
For visual reasons, cut off the withered flowers
Remove the remaining leaves in spring at the latest

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. During summer drought, water the plant early in the morning or late in the evening to keep the root ball from drying out. If, on the other hand, the flower is subject to continuous rain or is watered too intensively, the water balance will be out of balance and the leaves will first turn yellowish and later brown.

Is Edelweiss under nature protection?

The botanical symbol of the high mountains is almost extinct in the wild. Discovering an edelweiss in the Alps is considered a sensation. You should leave it at an admiring look and a photo, because Leontopodium is a nature reserve. In 1886, edelweiss was the first plant to receive this special status, which is still valid today. Apart from the fact that picking is usually done at risk of life, the removal of edelweiss from the wild is punished with severe fines.

How do I care for Edelweiss after flowering?

After the summer flowering period, the flower stalks dry up. You can either leave the withered edelweiss in the garden or cut the plant down to the ground. A pruning is therefore only considered for optical reasons.

trivia

Edelweiss is considered a symbol of heroic daring. The legendary edelweiss pirates used the plant as a sign of identification during the National Socialist era. Today the flower acts as a logo for the mountain rescuers in Austria. In addition, Austria pays tribute to the symbolic flower by gracing the 2 cent coin and being the first embroidered stamp to be issued in 2005.