Statice White Star

Statice White Star (Limonium perezii 'White Star') is the plant for a front garden that faces the sea and gets no sympathy from the weather. It forms a rosette of broad leathery leaves about 30cm high, then sends papery white flower heads up to roughly 60cm through spring and summer.

Why you'll love it

• Built for coastal exposure. Salt, wind and heat tolerant, so it holds a front line position where softer perennials burn off.
• Flowers that last. The white blooms are papery rather than soft, so they stay presentable for weeks and dry well indoors.
• Almost no maintenance. Fast growing, drought tolerant once established, and asking little beyond a tidy up after flowering.
• Bees and butterflies find it. The broad flat flower heads make an easy landing platform.

Where it works best

Coastal gardens. Its natural home, on dunes, front verges and exposed seaside beds, taking salt spray directly and flowering through it.

Mass planting and borders. Plant 40cm apart for a solid drift, where the rosettes touch and the flower stems rise as one white haze.

Rockeries and pots. The sharp drainage of a rockery or a container suits it exactly. A single plant fills a 300mm pot.

Growing Statice White Star in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun, all day, with air moving around it. It suits subtropical, warm temperate, Mediterranean, arid and semi-arid gardens. It handles light frost only, so hard frosting gardens should grow it in a container that can be moved under cover.

Soil. Free draining is the whole story. Sandy and gravelly soils are ideal, and heavy clay needs a raised bed or a mound with grit through it. Wet feet in winter is the one thing that reliably kills it.

Water and feed. Water weekly through the first summer, then only in extended dry weather. A light dressing of slow release fertiliser in early spring keeps the flower stems coming.

Pruning. Cut spent flower stems off at the base once they fade, which encourages a second flush, and remove old outer leaves at the same time.

What to expect when it arrives

It is grown as tube stock and in 140mm pots sold in packs of ten. Tubes are the value choice for a large drift. The 140mm packs suit filling a defined bed in one go.

Both sizes travel well, since the leathery foliage holds its own moisture. Expect flowering in the first spring from a 140mm plant, and in the second from a tube. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95, and every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Compare coastal and salt tolerant plants
• Planting a garden on an exposed coastal block
• Plants that bring in bees and butterflies
• Browse plants for rockeries

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it?

Forty centimetres apart gives a solid mass planting. Wider spacing leaves each rosette as a separate clump, which suits a rockery but leaves gaps for weeds.

How tall does it really get?

The leaf rosette sits at about 30cm. The 60cm figure includes the flower stems, which are cut off after flowering, so it reads as a low plant most of the year.

Will it survive frost?

Light frost only. It comes from the Canary Islands and has no real cold tolerance, so in a cold garden grow it in a pot.

Can I cut the flowers for the house?

Yes. Cut the stems when most of the head has opened, and they hold their colour and shape dried as well as fresh.