Get It Growing for 10/10/25

With eye-catching, silvery foliage that’s velvet-soft to the touch, dusty miller is a unique plant. Add to that the fact that it’s easy to care for and readily survives frosty winter temperatures, and you’ve got a recipe for a winning plant for cool-season landscapes.

That was the thinking of LSU AgCenter horticulturists when they named dusty miller a Louisiana Super Plant for 2025.

Dusty miller (Centaurea cineraria) is a long-standing staple of Louisiana gardens. AgCenter horticulturist Jason Stagg calls it “one of the best plants to use for fall and winter color.”

“It has this incredible silver color, which is often hard to find in the landscape in Louisiana, and it lasts so long,” he said.

Dusty miller typically starts showing up in garden centers in October. Plant it this month, and it’ll carry you through the entire cool season — through March and beyond. While most folks treat it as an annual, dusty miller — which is native to the Mediterranean — can perennialize and live multiple years in warm climates like ours.

A versatile plant, dusty miller works well in beds, along borders and in containers. It has a low, rounded growth habit, reaching 1 to 2 feet high and wide at most.

Dusty miller’s silver-to-white, fuzzy, lobed foliage brings interesting visual and textural contrasts to the landscape. Its cool hues pop, serving as a pleasing foil to more vibrant flowers and foliage sharing bed space with it. Because of their light color, dusty miller leaves can even appear to glow at night.

The soft feel of dusty miller isn’t just nice to run your fingers over. It also is a turnoff for hungry deer, which don’t like to eat leaves with noticeable textures.

Although dusty miller is grown for its attractive foliage, it can begin to produce small, yellow blooms as spring approaches. Many gardeners clip these flower buds to avoid detracting from the foliage — or take them as a sign that it’s time to remove the plants from the garden.

Ideally, dusty miller should be planted in full sun, which enhances its silvery tones. But part sun locations are fine, too.

“Planting this in full shade is not really the best idea, as it’s going to struggle and get leggy,” Stagg said.

Dusty miller is a low-maintenance plant that usually doesn’t need fertilizer or any special care. Once established, it’s drought tolerant, and it can handle light frosts and freezes.

For a twist on this classic cool-season plant, Stagg suggests trying out New Look, a newer cultivar.

“The larger leaves have margins that are smoother and not as highly serrated as the older cultivar, which is called Silverdust,” he said. “Cirrus is another cultivar with less dramatic leaf serration. They’re all great plants.”

Dusty miller is just one of many plants that have been crowned Louisiana Super Plants — a designation reserved for tough, beautiful plants that are university tested and industry approved. To learn more about the program, visit www.LSUAgCenter.com/SuperPlants.

Learn about dusty miller, a Louisiana Super Plant selection, with LSU AgCenter horticulturist Jason Stagg.

Dusty miller, a 2025 Louisiana Super Plant, is a tough plant that brings striking visual and textural contrast to the garden. It is a great choice for borders like this one, which also features Jolt series dianthus. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter

New Look dusty miller leaves have fewer serrations than familiar older cultivars. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter

Dusty miller works well in mixed container plantings. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter