7 things you didn’t to know about the Edelweiss (plus how to grow them at home)

Edelweiss, 🎶 edelweiss, 🎶 every morning you greet me. Small and white, clean and bright, you look happy to meet me.🎶

You know the song, but here are seven things you may not have known about edelweiss (and how to grow them in your own backyard.

1. Leontopodium nivale, also known as edelweiss or Alpen-Edelweiss, belongs to the daisy and sunflower family Asteraceae.
2. Edelweiss love rocky limestone and high elevations.
3. The plants are non-toxic and sometimes used in traditional medicine for stomach pain, respiratory diseases, heart disease and diarrhea. It is also known as the ‘bellyache flower.’
4. The name Edelweiss is a compound German word: edel means ‘noble’ and weiss means ‘white.’
5. The flower is known in Italy as ‘star of the Alps’ and in France as ‘cat’s paws.’
6. Giving a loved one an edelweiss flower is a promise of dedication.
7. It is said that the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I hiked high onto a glacier to pick his wife, Sisi, an edelweiss as a symbol of his love and devotion.

How to Grow Edelweiss

You can find edelweiss seeds online. I found some HERE but there are quite a few reputable dealers. Start your edelweiss seeds indoors by placing them in some soil in a black plastic bag in the refrigerator for three weeks. Then follow these instructions:

• place the seeds on the surface of well-draining soil
• mist them gently with a water spray bottle
• Keep them in a cool environment and mist daily
• seedlings should appear in two to four weeks
• when seedlings sprout, put them in a sunny location
• when they are large enough to handle, harden them off for about a week by putting them outside for a few hours each day, then overnight.
• once they are hardened off, plant them in their permanent home outside.

The fuzzy white petals of the Edelweiss are a part of the leaf. The yellow centers are the actual flowers and may not appear until the second year of growth. To extend the plant’s life, divide them every few years.

While you wait for your seeds to sprout, consider reading Code Name Edelweiss or one of my other novels.