Yellow Buttons

Yellow Buttons (Chrysocephalum apiculatum) is a spreading Australian native groundcover that carries clusters of small golden flowers over silver grey foliage through most of the warm months. It sits about 30cm high and spreads to a metre across, so a handful of plants covers a surprising amount of ground. Few groundcovers take heat, drought, frost and poor soil as well.

Why you'll love it

• Silver foliage and gold flowers. The soft grey green leaves are a feature in their own right, with button flowers above them from spring into autumn.
• It covers ground quickly. Fast growing and spreading to about 1m wide, so a bed closes over in a season or two.
• Almost any climate. Frost hardy and heat tolerant, and rated for cool temperate, warm temperate, subtropical, Mediterranean and arid gardens.
• Poor soil is fine. It grows naturally on thin, dry, gravelly ground, so a difficult bank suits it.
• Bees and butterflies use it. The long flowering season makes it a genuinely useful nectar plant.

Where it works best

Groundcover and mass planting. Plant 50cm apart for a dense groundcover, which is four plants per square metre. At that spacing the plants meet in one season and give an unbroken carpet rather than separate mounds.

Rockeries and dry banks. It is at home spilling between rocks and over a dry embankment, where the sharp drainage suits it and the silver foliage lifts grey stone.

Borders and edging. A low front row along a path, softening the edge without needing to be cut back off the paving.

Growing Yellow Buttons in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun, without exception. In shade it stretches, loses the silver in the leaves and flowers poorly. It handles frost in cool temperate gardens and extreme heat in arid ones, which makes it one of the most adaptable natives we sell.

Soil. Free draining is the only real requirement, and poor is better than rich. It will not tolerate wet feet in winter, so on clay plant on a mound and use coarse sand rather than compost.

Water and feed. Water weekly through the first summer while the roots go down, then only in extended dry weather. If you feed at all, use a low phosphorus native fertiliser at half rate in early spring.

Pruning. Shear the whole planting back by about a third once the main flowering finishes. That is the difference between a plant that stays dense for years and one that goes woody and open in the middle.

What to expect when it arrives

Yellow Buttons is sold as tube stock, the sensible format for a plant this fast. Each tube is a small rooted plant a few centimetres across that will typically triple in size in its first season, and tubes keep a large mass planting affordable.

Tube stock travels well because there is little top growth to damage. Plant it out promptly, water in with a seaweed tonic, and keep the soil damp for the first month. Expect visible spread within six to eight weeks in warm weather. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Compare the full range of groundcover plants.
• Read about other native plants with yellow flowers.
• Find companions in our rockery plants collection.

Common questions

How many plants do I need per square metre?

Four, at 50cm spacing, for a groundcover that closes over in one season. If you can wait two seasons and mulch in the meantime, 70cm spacing and two or three plants will get there.

Will it survive frost?

Yes. It is frost hardy and grows naturally through cold inland districts. It may look flat and dull through the coldest weeks, then thickens up as the soil warms.

How do I stop it going woody in the middle?

Shear it back by about a third each year once the main flowering ends. Skipping that for two or three years is what leaves bare woody centres and flowering only at the edges.