The silver leaves of many Cineraria are almost white in amongst this greenery. The plants are grown as annuals for the leaf colour and shape. As the leaves grow older they become more deeply cut and lose the oak leaf shape to be more fern like. Keep removing long and old growths and pinching out prior to flowering to encourage more leaf formation.

• The plants flower yellow and grow easily from seed.
• Try Maritima varieties Silver Dust or the taller Candicans
• Cuttings can be rooted successfully
• The plants will often last 2 or 3 seasons but become very leggy
• The colour looks good in formal beds and is often used in parks and gardens
• Leaves get a dust or powdery bloom

The Cineraria is related to the ragwort family and contains 50 different species including the multi coloured house plants varieties.
Ragworts produce yellow daisy like flowers similar to those shown above.

Varieties and Named Species

Cineraria Silver Dust has slightly lobed leaves.
Cineraria Dusty Miller has a powdery white meal on the stalks.
Other names Senecio maritimus, Senecio candicans, Cineraria maritima
Cineraria silver ragwort ‘Cirrus’ has rounded leaves and a more tidy habit.

Photo credits
Senecio cineraria by Carl E Lewis CC BY-SA 2.0
les fleurs (Senecio cineraria) by yukop CC BY 2.0