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Size Guide

3.5
3.5" Perennial
3 or more $6.00 ea
Regularly: $6.99 ea

Red Pussytoes

Scott's Nursery Ltd.

$6.99
Title

Introduce a touch of plush, whimsical charm to your sun-baked spaces with this incredibly unique alpine treasure. It weaves a dense, ground-hugging velvet carpet of tiny, paddle-shaped leaves that shimmer with a brilliant silver-grey metallic sheen. When spring reaches its peak, the magical foliage is crowned by a profusion of fuzzy, deep pink flower clusters that bear a striking resemblance to a tiny kitten's paws. This delightful texture creates an enchanting, high-contrast display that softens hard stone edges and fills crevices with soft, playful colour.

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Plant Details

Mature Size:

4" H x 12" W

Zone:

2-9

Watering:

Low

Type:

Herbaceous Evergreen Perennial

Growth Rate:

Slow - Moderate

Light:

Full Sun

Plant Profile

Common Names:

Pink Pussytoes, Red Pussytoes, Mountain Everlasting, Catsfoot, Cudweed

Scientific Name:

Antennaria dioica 'Rubra'

Type:

Spiller / Groundcover / Rockery Ornamental

Growth Details:

Mature Size: 2 to 4 inches tall (foliage stays under 2 inches) and spreads 12 to 18 inches wide.

Growth Habit: Creeping, mat-forming, and spreading via above-ground stolons.

Form: Low-profile, dense, prostrate evergreen carpet.

Growth Rate: Slow to medium; builds an exceptionally tight, long-lived mat over time.

Flowering: Short, fuzzy clusters of dense, button-shaped blooms.

Flowering Time: Late spring to early summer.

Flower Colour: Deep pink, rose-pink, or cherry-red.

Environmental Needs:

Exposure: Full sun.

Soil Preferences: Poor, sandy, lean, gravelly, or gritty soils with rapid, sharp drainage.

Soil Tolerance: Exceptional resilience in nutrient-depleted, rocky, or chalky substrates; completely intolerant of soggy, heavy winter clay.

Watering: Low. Let the ground dry thoroughly between waterings; standing water is fatal.

Container Role: Functions perfectly as an ultra-low, creeping Spiller or highly tactile, felted Filler in shallow patio containers and concrete troughs.

Special Features:

Disease Resistances: Exceptional natural immunity to common garden pests and leaf diseases; vulnerable only to rot if overwatered.

Native Species: Yes (Native to cool temperate regions of North America and Eurasia).

Fast Growing: No.

Attracts: Acts as a vital larval host plant for the American Painted Lady butterfly and attracts native bees.

Uses: Perfect for rock gardens, between pavement seams, low-water containers, and small-scale xeriscaping.

Resistance: Highly deer-resistant and rabbit-resistant.

Care Guide

Ornamental & Landscape Value

Seasonal Interest:

Bloom Information: Charming, highly unique pink flower heads rise like kitten pads over the silver carpet for weeks.

Fall Colour: No change; the foliage holds its striking silver-grey tone beautifully through the winter months.

Garden Value:

Ornamental Interest: Ground-hugging, metallic silver-white woolly leaves topped with fuzzy, colorful pink button-like flower clusters.

Landscaping Uses: Ideal for planting between stepping stones or flagstone paths, tucking into rockeries and alpine slopes, framing sunny border fronts, and naturalizing on dry retaining walls.

Garden / Landscape Benefits: Highly efficient, drought-tolerant weed suppressor that withstands light foot traffic, making it an exceptional alternative lawn substitute for small, hot garden strips.

Wildlife & Human Value:

Wildlife Value: Highly beneficial ecological addition that supports native solitary bees and raises beautiful Painted Lady butterflies.

Human Value: Provides a zero-irrigation, zero-mow turf alternative for narrow, challenging sun-baked property lines.

Planting & Care Guide

Planting Considerations:

Best Time To Plant: Early spring after heavy frosts pass, or mid-autumn.

Spacing: Space individual rosettes 10 to 12 inches apart to allow the stolons room to creep and knit a solid carpet.

Location Tips: Select high, sharply drained spaces like gravel pathways or elevated pockets; avoid low swales where winter rain accumulates.

Companion Plants: Pairs magnificently with dwarf spring-blooming bulbs like botanical tulips, Delosperma 'Orange Crush', creeping Thymes, and low-growing Sedums.

Care:

Light Requirements: Needs absolute full sun to keep its felted silvery leaf rosettes tight, dense, and spreading properly.

Moisture Requirements: Extremely low; water sparingly only when the soil has completely dried out.

Maintenance, Fertilization: Low-maintenance. Shear or run a lawnmower on a high setting over the spent flower stalks in mid-summer to maintain a neat, flat carpet. Never apply nitrogen-heavy fertilizers, as overly rich nutrients cause the compact silver mats to rot and melt away.

Tolerances:

Punishing summer heat, severe drought, nutrient-depleted gravel, and light foot traffic.

Tips For Success:

Thinning / Pinching: Clumps can be easily divided in early spring to propagate or fill empty spots around the garden.

Support / Staking: Completely unnecessary; stays flush with the ground level.

Special Needs: Sharp, flawless drainage is mandatory.

Mulching: Mulch exclusively with coarse sand, chicken grit, or pea gravel; organic bark mulches will rot the woolly foliage.

Winter Protection: None required; naturally designed to survive sub-zero, snow-covered winters without taking damage.

Fruit Profile