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Carlina acaulis |
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| Common name |
silver thistle |
| Family |
asteraceae |
| Life cycle |
perennial |
| Flowers |
silver-white (summer) |
| Size |
6" |
| Light |
full sun |
| Cultural notes |
good for alpine/rock garden. ordinary well-drained soil |
From seed  |
easy, germinates in a week or so at room temperature.
detailed seed-starting info below
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I keep this around for its different appearance and striking flowers. Plants last just a few years, and don't self-sow for me, so I grow new ones every couple years or so. The flowers are used by some to predict the weather, as they open and close in response to humidity levels.
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| The flowers proceed to dry on the plant, and last quite a while.
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We left this plant behind in our Pennsylvania garden (and wish it well); we don't grow it in Houston. About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Carlina acaulis
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| Phyllis Gustafson | Aug 26, 2010 | One of my favorite plants. Here in a very sunny valley of southern Oregon this plant makes an interesting spot in the hot, weary late summer. My first introduction was in Lawerce Crocker's garden in the 1970's. Lawence, one of the founders of Siskiyou Rare Plant Nursery was always so generous. I've grown it off and on ever since. |
- Seed from '01 garden. Baggy 65F with light (70%G, 10-14d)
- Seed from '03 garden. Baggy 65F with light (80%G, 6-10d)
- Seed from '03 and '04 garden. Baggy 65F with light (76%G, 6-16d)
- Seed from '05 garden. Baggy 70F with light (58%G, 6-10d). Moving to warmth did not increase germination
- Seed from NARGS '08/'09 exchange. Baggy 70F (100%G, 6d)
- Seed from NARGS '13/'14 exchange. Baggy 70F (100%G, 6-16d)
The dried flowerheads are full of things that might be seeds. Only the very substantial, heavy things are viable. If you can press it flat with your finger, it is just chaff. A full flower yields surprisingly few seeds, in my experience.
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