Edelweiss ∗ The 10 best care and planting tips

Planting Edelweiss correctly

To perfectly prepare the soil for the alpine flower, rake the soil through thoroughly. Mix in loamy garden soil with sand, gravel or gravel and add a little Rock flour(€ 12.33 at Amazon *) added. In this substrate you dig a small pit that is no more than twice the size of the root ball. Now pot the plant out, put it in the middle and fill the planting hole with the emaciated excavation. Solidify the soil with both hands and pour on. The planting depth should correspond to that in the nursery pot. A mulch layer made of gravel or chippings is advantageous for rapid growth.
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Care tips

Edelweiss has a record-breaking short maintenance program:

Water in summer drought
Do not fertilize
Sprinkle vital lime in spring and work in gently
If necessary, cut off withered flowers close to the ground

Care for the flower in the pot if 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. The plant produces the in full sun in poor, sandy-loamy and calcareous soil convincing evidence for the choice of its name, because it develops a noble shape and radiant white Star blossoms. Preferably settle the flower here:

Rock garden
Gravel bed
Dry stone wall
Alpinarium

The correct planting distance

Edelweiß impressively stages itself in small groups. A plant spacing 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 to the neighboring plant is sufficient.

What soil does the plant need?

Edelweiss demands an earth with the following attributes:

Lean and calcareous
Sandy-dry, freshly ground and well-drained

In the planter, the plant is happy about a mix of standard soil, quartz sand and Expanded clay.(€ 16.35 at Amazon *) Refrain from adding compost or horn shavings, instead enrich the substrate with a little Rock flour at.

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 conditions for growth with a planting between March and May.

When is the flowering time?

From June to August / September, an edelweiss presents its white star blossoms. In fact, there are several white-felted bracts that attract insects to the factual tubular flowers in the middle of the white-felted star.
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Cut edelweiss properly

Edelweiss does not receive a cut back in the true sense of the word. For a well-groomed appearance in the bed and planter, hobby gardeners still use scissors after flowering. The dried up stems are cut close to the ground in late autumn or early spring. Before the fresh shoots 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 enough to quench the low 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 are dry is a little watered. The plant does not want to be confronted with drought stress or waterlogging.

Fertilize Edelweiss properly

Edelweiss is not fertilized at any time, because the site should remain poor and only marginally humus. If fertilizer gets to the plant, it results in the greening of flowers and leaves in the best case. Usually the flower dies as a result of a nutrient shock. Regardless, the gift of a little turns out Garden lime(€ 9.70 at Amazon *) as beneficial for growth and abundance of flowers.

Pests

The pleasantly sweet scent of the legendary flower unfortunately attracts snails in hosts to enjoy it. The following procedures are available to prevent the plant from being destroyed:

Plant the flower with a protective snail collar
A whole bed surrounded by a snail fence
Create a walking barrier made of sharp materials, such as grit or sawdust

If the snail invasion gets out of hand, pesticides such as slug pellets should only be used in crevice traps. This special construction denies the harmless shell snails access so that they do not lose their lives unnecessarily.

Overwinter

Edelweiss is completely hardy. The plant should still be protected from permanent winter wetness. If you cover the withered flower with brushwood or fir fronds before the first frost, the danger from meltwater or continuous rain is largely averted. Maintain the plant in the balcony box or pot, ideally carry the container to a frost-free winter area 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 a styrofoam plate
Cover the substrate with brushwood or leaves

Propagate Edelweiss

Over time, edelweiss develops larger clumps in the bed. These provide a perfect basis for uncomplicated multiplication by division. In spring or autumn, dig up the plant to split 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 deeply as before.

For single-variety propagation by means of sowing the specialist trade offers 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 the bird sand and sow
Do not sieve over the light germs, just press them on
Water from below and place in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator or cold store for 4 weeks

Following the stratification, germination begins within 4 weeks in the partially shaded location at 18-20 degrees Celsius. Until the young plants are pricked out after another 4 weeks, place the container a little cooler and lighter at 15 degrees.

Edelweiss in a pot

Edelweiss sets decorative accents in stone planters in the company of small sedum and milkweed 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, a drainage made of gravel reliably prevents damaging waterlogging. If you use a coaster, 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:

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

Brown leaves

If the leaves turn brown on edelweiss, this damage pattern indicates a neglect in care. In this way, the mountain flower reacts to both drought stress and waterlogging. In summer drought, water the plant early in the morning or late in the evening so that the root ball does not dry out. If, on the other hand, the flower is exposed to continuous rain or is watered too intensively, the water balance is imbalanced and the leaves turn yellowish at first and later brown.

Is Edelweiss under nature protection?

The botanical landmark of the high mountains is almost extinct in the wild. Discovering an edelweiss in the Alps is a sensation. With an admiring look and a photo, you should leave it, because Leontopodium is under nature protection. 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 carried out at risk of death, the removal of edelweiss from nature is punishable by severe fines.

How do I care for edelweiss after flowering?

After the summer flowering season, the flower stalks dry up. You can either leave the withered edelweiss in the garden or cut the plant close to the ground. A cut back is therefore only possible for visual reasons.

Trivia

Edelweiss is a symbol of heroic daring. The plant was used by the legendary edelweiss pirates during the Nazi era as a distinguishing mark. Today the flower functions, among other things, as a logo for mountain rescuers in Austria. In addition, Austria pays tribute to the symbolic flower by adorning the 2-cent coin and being the first embroidered stamp to be issued in 2005.

Nice 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 height of 5-10 cm a splendid candidate for the creative table garden
Alpenstern: beautiful white star blossoms over woolly, silvery shimmering leaves