Up until last summer I spent a lot of the spring, summer, and fall hiking, driving and photographing native plants in my area. In the fall I went back to places I marked on my maps and collected seed for propagating promising natives for my own use.

But the last two years I have been busy with other pressing needs, so on a recent trip up Casper Mountain I had one of those, Oh-Yeah! I-forgot-about-that-plant moments.  A wonderful dry shade native which I have grown from seed- Anaphalis margaritacea, commonly called Pearly Everlasting.

Here it is in its native habitat, growing in the shade of the Lodgepole Pines.

And below a closer look at its pearly white flower clusters, which by the way, dry beautifully- thus the ‘everlasting’ part. I would consider this a partial shade situation since the pines have been thinned out. Perfect for my yard. I’ll be collecting some seed this fall. It’s easy to grow. You can check out how to grow Pearly Everlasting on the University of Idaho’s Native Plant Database.