Bracteantha bracteata Heliana White - Strawflower

The Bracteantha Heliana White brings the elegance of pearly white to this series of exceptionally floriferous hybrid Heliana everlasting flowers. The plant grows into a very dense, neat-looking small tuft, and its particularly long flowering compensates for the modest size of its flowers. It is a remarkably generous annual that forms a beautiful, very flowery cushion for almost 5 months without the need to remove faded flowers. In borders or pots, its pure pearly flowers illuminate any decor. They are also perfect for fresh or dried bouquets.

The Bracteantha Heliana White is a very recent horticultural achievement, a hybrid that does not produce seeds but devotes all its energy to flowering. It is an annual plant from the Asteraceae family: it has flowers organized in heads, but the heads of the everlasting flowers are distinguished from daisies and centaureas by the absence of ray flowers or petals, which are replaced by scaly, coloured, and shiny bracts. This characteristic allows the inflorescences to hold up for a long time once they are dry, as the bracts do not 'wither' like petals. The Heliana White selection is an upright, compact plant that reaches an average height of 35 cm when in flower, with a width of 20-25 cm (8-10in). Its rough stems are branched, adorned with simple, lanceolate, olive-green leaves, slightly hairy, measuring 5 to 7 cm (2 to 3in) long. The overall appearance is a dense tuft. Flowering is uninterrupted from summer to autumn, usually from June to October. It is nectar-rich and highly visited by butterflies. The Heliana White heads measure between 2 and 3 cm (1in) in diameter.