How To Grow Life Everlasting Herbs

Life everlasting herb, or Anaphalis margaritacea, provides long-lasting blooms to a flower garden. Usually grown as a flowering perennial, life everlasting leaves and flowers are also used to make herbal teas. The plant produces small, white flowers through most of the summer months. It has silver-green foliage. Life everlasting attracts beneficial insects to a garden and is a suitable choice for a butterfly garden. Reaching heights between 1 and 3 feet, this perennial stands well on its own or planted among other flowers.

Step 1

Fill a 3-inch diameter seedling pot with moist potting soil. Leave a ½-inch space between the top of the soil and the rim of the pot.

Step 2

Sow two life everlasting seeds in the pot. Plant them about ¼ inch deep.

Step 3

Prepare the pot for seed germination. Cover the pot with plastic wrap to retain the soil moisture during germination. Place the pot in a warm room.

Step 4

Remove the plastic wrap when sprouts emerge from the soil. Sprouts usually appear within 14 to 21 days of sowing.

Step 5

Provide sunshine and water. Move the pot to a sunny window, and water when the soil surface just begins to feel dry.

Step 6

Transplant the seedlings to the garden once all frost danger is past in spring. Plant them in a well-drained garden bed that receives full sunlight. Plant the seedlings at the same depth in the garden bed that they grew in the pots. Space the plants 18 to 24 inches apart in all directions.

Step 7

Water the plants once each week. Moisten the soil to a 6-inch depth. Water more often during hot, dry weather if the soil begins to dry out more quickly than once each week.