Field Pussytoes

Editing to include: Be careful what you believe in the comment section of this or any other PlantFile page! There is no verification pr...Read Moreocess and sometimes our experiences, or info we glean from the web is not true for each and every plant and situation.

A comment below claims "It is an allelopathic plant", meaning it will poison the soil to prevent competition for resources. After I found this page, I expected nothing to grow up among this plant. That ended up not being the case in my second year with my pussytoes. The alien white clover had no problem creeping down and among the plant. I will be more careful in the future to keep the weeds from having free reign in the area.

I was drawn to this plant by its common name, Prairie Pussytoes. Even though I dislike outdoor cats, that is a cute name. Also like the Latin name, Antennaria neglecta, as it reminds me of our delightful yard bird, Sturnella neglecta. I'll let you search to find out who. The neglected things seem to be enjoyable once discovered.

I was looking for a good, native ground cover to fit our soil conditions- full sun, clay sub-soil and on a slight incline. We wanted something to fill in the area around our new Chimney Swift towers with an attached garage. :) This fits the bill. I will plant more this coming spring. (Done this.)

It's a tight spreading plant. The Prairie Pussytoes requires little water, even this first year. Once I learned that detail and stopped watering so much, it really started growing after I thought it was a goner. According to the USDA website, it is a slow grower. Compared to many weeds and even other natives we have, this is definitely true. It only grew to a width of about four and a half inches this summer. We have space to allow the natives to spread at will, but I think it might work in a more contained area.

Just noticing the ph requirements, our soil is slightly alkaline and it did very well its first year.

Editing 4 April 2015:
I just looked at the plant. It is barely greening up again, but has blossoms already. My very first flowers of the year. This even beat the dandelions!

Found a patch of a pussytoes in the lawn next to our church. I can't say for sure the species, but perhaps this one. This spring (2011) I...Read More dug two plants and put them in our garden; so far they're doing well!

I saw this cute little plant growing in the wild on a recent hike in the Adirondacks. There were fuzzy little patches sprouting up all ov...Read Moreer in the field. Definately an adorable plant, but also very invasive from what I saw.

Antennaria neglecta is a perennial native of Ohio and grows in small colonies in my yard and field.
It is an allelopathic plant,...Read More giving off chemicals that "poison" the soil for other plants, and thus reduces competition for sunlight and moisture. So if you plant this flower in your garden, be careful where you plant it !
It is also a host plant for the American Painted Lady butterfly.