Helichrysum petiolare
Licorice Plant
Common names: Licorice Strawflower, Liquorice Plant
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Pot size
- from 5 l
- Lifespan
- Annual
- Flowering
- Aug–Sep
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below 0 °C
- Water need
- Medium
Photo: Paul venter · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The licorice strawflower, botanically Helichrysum petiolare, comes from South Africa and is grown in Germany for its foliage. The roundish to egg-shaped leaves are densely covered in silvery grey felt, feel soft like velvet, and give off a faint licorice scent when rubbed. The plant forms a loose subshrub 30 to 50 cm tall, whose shoots grow 60 to 80 cm long over the rim of the pot during the summer. From August, small cream-coloured flower heads appear, which remain inconspicuous beside the foliage. In hanging baskets, boxes, and bowls, it is a calm companion for petunias, geraniums, and fuchsias, as the silver makes colourful flowers glow more clearly. Besides the silver-grey form, there is the yellow-green cultivar ‘Limelight’. In this region it is not frost-hardy and is usually grown as an annual.
Care instructions
Plant the licorice strawflower in a sunny, warm spot after the Ice Saints period, from mid-May (from calendar week 20). In a container, use permeable balcony flower soil mixed with some sand, and place a drainage layer over the drainage hole. Water moderately, and only when the top layer of soil feels dry, preferably directly at the root ball rather than over the leaves. The felted foliage dries slowly after wet conditions and rots quickly in prolonged rain, so during extended rainy periods, it is better to place the plant under a roof overhang. Fertilise sparingly. Pinch back young shoot tips early so the plant branches more densely, and cut back overly long shoots by about a third in midsummer. Allow space around weaker neighbours, as it grows vigorously and can easily overgrow them.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
FloweringAug–Sep
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
well-drained, sandy, lean
The liquorice plant likes free-draining, sandy and rather lean soil. In a container, mix balcony-plant compost with a little sand so that excess water runs off quickly. Wet, heavy or heavily fertilised soil makes the shoots long and soft and turns the foliage greenish instead of silver. The pH is best in the neutral to slightly acidic range, but larger deviations are not a problem.
Feeding
Light feeder
Months
Jun–Aug
The liquorice plant needs little food. If it stands in a box together with hungry flowering plants, it benefits from their feeding too. On its own in a pot, a sparing dose of liquid fertiliser for flowering plants about every four weeks from June to August is enough. Too much fertiliser makes the shoots long and soft and the foliage less silvery. Fresh soil enriched with a little compost in spring is enough to get it started.
Overwintering
The liquorice plant is not hardy and is usually grown as an annual on the balcony. Even light frost kills the shoots. If you want to keep it, bring it indoors before the first frost, cut it back by half and put it in a bright place at 5 to 10 degrees. Water only a little, the root ball should not dry out completely, and do not feed. It is easier to take cuttings in August or September and overwinter these bright and frost-free. They become new plants in May.
Propagation
Methods
- Cuttings
You propagate the liquorice plant from tip cuttings, which also preserves special forms. From July to September, cut off 8–10 cm long shoot tips without flowers, remove the lower leaves and insert them in a lean mix of seed compost and sand. Keep the soil only lightly moist, because the felted shoots rot quickly, and place the pots somewhere bright and warm, out of direct sun. After two to four weeks the cuttings have rooted. Overwinter them in a bright spot at 5 to 10 degrees and plant them out after the Ice Saints (mid-May).
Companion planting
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Licorice Plant yourself
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