They are perennials wherever they are grown.......they just cannot survive very cold temperatures. But they seem to overwinter well in many climates and in colder winter ones, very well drained soil will help. As will snow cover, which is excellent insulation.

Yes, they can be cut back by about half. And that should serve to make them bush out more so be fuller looking plants this season. Also, full all-day sun and minimal fertilization will keep the plants more compact

i've never had Dusty Miller, but they sound like they're easy-care and fairly hardy. Could Dusty Miller be used as a lawn alternative to grass?

they're not a ground cover, just a little tuft. and you'd have to want a tall white "lawn"! :)

If you love Dusty Miller and would love more, just root the cuttings. Depending on your soil, you might be able to just root them in the ground. Or stick them in some potting soil, it won’t take long to have a whole new set of Dusty Miller.

I've never done cuttings so that's really good to know. I still have yet to cut them back since most of my gardening time has been spent digging up groundcover and weeding but I was happily surprised to see that it didnt die over the winter. Well, that's not true 2 plants did die, but most survived and continued to grow all winter long which I thought was super unusual but I guess it's not too uncommon with dusty Miller.

Hi Amanda,

I had similar surprise back in spring of 2019 when I realized those so called annuals i planted in my shade garden were very much alive underneath the dry leaves. i am in zone 6b. i cut back the dead branches and let the plants grow as they pleased because I wanted to see how they behave and they rewarded me with a bigger bush and flower spikes i was not expecting. The flowers are yellow and not as showy but pretty. Though looks odd the foliage color.

since then I have got the plants back every season. I just trim them back and allow them to sprawl. I use few cuttings to enhance my containers. So far they have rooted real easy for me. All I do is stick those in the container or garden soil - no rooting hormone or special media. just sticking in where I want them to grow does the job within a week. Only precaution I take is to not export those to direct sun when weather warms up (above 60 degrees).

the bed is close to house foundation, though NW facing with almost no sun. But I think the warmth from concrete and dead foliage helps protect the plant. I have had similar success with dahlia sunshine, which is supposed to be hardy only up to zone 8.

Wish all tender perennials did that for me.

Happy gardening!!!

Just an update. I cut them back and actually even moved two since they were growing into the yard and they've done really well growing and adjusting. Such a nice surprise that they came back. I'm also trying my luck at a cutting, but no roots or new growth just yet so we will see! One thing I did notice is that some of the new growth is greener than before, which is interesting.

One more advantage to Dusty Miller is that deer and rabbits leave it alone. It is one of the few things they don't eat in my yard.

Yeah, nothing seems to eat these, which is nice. I just discovered that I have quite the slug problem in the front yard, but they don't seem to like dusty Miller. I never used to be a person who liked foliage plants, but after gardening for a bit I really love them all!

I love Dusty Millers. They are really hardy in southern zones. In Florida they grow to 2-3 feet tall. I had them paired with coleus and they looked beautiful.

Great info here! I'm in zone 9b & planted some in too shady of a spot last year, so they are leggy. Going to trim and use cuttings for more. Wondering if I should let the "mothers" rest awhile before transplanting? Thanks for any advice. ~ Kat

Hey Kat,

I did a cutting and have yet to see any results from the cutting but it was my first time trying cuttings so idk if I did it right lol. But I will include that I did transplant 2 of the 4 that came back from last year and while the next day one looked a little unhappy both of the transplants perked back up and are now doing great. I didnt transplant the same day I took a cutting and pruned them though.

They look really pretty ... all those different colours of green.

Does dusty miller do well under oak tree?

Unlikely. It needs full sun.

When perennials are sold where they can't survive perennially, they are called annuals to avoid unrealistic expectations.

I was quite surprised but they are survivors. I bought some dusty Miller seed to start in the greenhouse this year to plant in the rock garden in the back and I am hopeful they will be perennials too. The thing that surprised me the most about these is not just that they survived, but that they didn't die back to the roots - they continued to grow all winter! They looked a bit monsterous in early spring but after cutting them back in spring they gave a lovely performance all growing season. Hopefully they will continue to do so for years to come!! I don't like the way they look when they flower though so I always cut that back. Also I didn't have any luck with the cutting, but I'd never done cuttings before so I didn't really know what I was doing.