Plantainleaf Pussytoes
Antennaria plantaginifolia
Woolly silver leaves and fuzzy cat-toe flowers for the driest, rockiest spots where grass fails. Permanent and maintenance-free once settled.
Typically 1 pint–1 gal · $9–$30 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Sep 248 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Sep 258 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Sep 268 AM – 2 PM
The native groundcover for dry rocky slopes where everything else fails. and a larval host for American Painted Lady butterflies.
Plantainleaf Pussytoes forms a low, silver-green mat of woolly leaves that hug the ground in rocky, sandy, and dry situations where almost nothing else will grow. In spring small white pom-pom flower heads that look exactly like cat toes rise on short stems, soft, fuzzy, and almost impossibly charming at close range. The foliage stays silver-gray through the seasons, giving the plant ornamental value even when not in bloom. This is a plant for the toughest spots: dry, gravelly, rocky slopes, sandy soil, full sun exposure. It's the native groundcover that replaces lawn in dry conditions where grass fails and where even drought-tolerant ornamentals struggle. The American Painted Lady butterfly uses it as a larval host plant, which makes it doubly valuable in a native pollinator planting. Once established in appropriate conditions it is essentially permanent and maintenance-free.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown plantainleaf pussytoes propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Dry
- Mature size
- 2–8 in · 12–18 in wide
- Bloom time
- Early spring
- Bloom color
- White
- USDA zones
- 3–8
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Native range
- Eastern and central United States, from Maine south to Georgia, west to Kansas
Care notes for plantainleaf pussytoes.
Plant in full sun in dry to very dry, well-drained, lean soil. This plant absolutely requires excellent drainage. wet or heavy soil is fatal. Do not over-water or fertilize. Spreads slowly by stolons into a mat. No maintenance needed in appropriate conditions. This is a plant you plant and forget.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside plantainleaf pussytoes.
Or skip the guesswork.
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