Sweet Everlasting

Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium

Sweet everlasting earns its name in two ways: the papery white flower heads persist long after they dry, and the whole plant carries a warm, maple-syrup scent when crushed. The leaves are covered in white woolly hairs that give a silver-gray cast to the foliage, making it attractive even before the compact clusters of papery blooms appear in late summer and fall. This is a short-lived perennial that self-sows to persist in a planting. It thrives in the dry, sandy, or disturbed soils where colonizing is important. American Lady butterflies use it as a larval host plant, making it an under-celebrated ecological powerhouse. The dried stems cut and hold beautifully in arrangements.