If you’re looking to plant a rare flower with a storied past that’s had a well-known song written about it, edelweiss will check all your boxes.
My mother grew up in northeastern Italy, just over the Austrian border, near the Alps, where edelweiss grow wild along steep rocky ledges. When I was a child, she told me stories about the elusive white flowers, and how young men had died after climbing and falling from the cliffs while trying to pick edelweiss for
their beloveds.
One, an 18-year-old named Auguste Loubet, fell to his death in the French Alps in 1939 while trying to get a flower for his sweetheart. His death is the only documented case of “Death by Edelweiss” that I could verify, but folklore claims there have been many others.
I know that’s pretty dark territory for a gardening column to veer into — and probably for a child’s bedtime story, too -- but the good news is you can try growing the star-shaped, velvety flowers without risking life, limb or nightmares.
Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum), which translates as “noble white” from German, has some very specific requirements endemic to its native range: alkaline rocky or sandy soil that drains well, low soil fertility, full sunlight and cold winter temperatures. If you can replicate those –- and you likely can in the lower-humidity areas of horticultural zones 4-7, you can grow edelweiss. The plant gives bonus points to gardeners at high elevations.
Sow seeds outdoors in late fall to provide the stratification — or winter chill — that they require for germination. Or plant pre-chilled seeds in early spring (the package label will tell you whether seeds have been stratified). Either way, press the seeds into the soil to ensure contact, but don’t bury them. They will sprout in spring and begin blooming in spring and summer of their second year.
Alternatively, you can purchase starter plants, if you can find them, for transplanting into the garden right after the last frost date in spring. They should bloom after planting.
Water the plants regularly throughout their first year as their roots become established. After that, they will seldom need supplemental watering.
The plants, which can survive temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit, thrive in barren, nutrient-poor soil, so don’t fertilize them unless they’re growing in a container, and even then, only minimally.
Even if you never grow edelweiss, chances are you’ve made its acquaintance through its namesake song from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1965 movie “The Sound of Music,” which cemented it into pop culture.
“Blossom of snow, may you bloom and grow,” the song says.
And, despite luring young men to attempt foolish feats of bravery, the tiny flower has inspired generations of gardeners, hikers and movie lovers.
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Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for The Associated Press. She publishes the Weekly Dirt Newsletter. Sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.
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For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.
