Groundsel, Senecio niveoaureus Cuatrec 'Bella Grigio'

as noted above, this plant is NOT a true Stachys, and not in Lamiaceae. It's a Senecio (S. niveoaureus, Asteraceae). Really one of the wo...Read Morerst common names.

Evidently Stachys as this plants genus was an incorrect identification. After it was seen in flower displaying typical Senecio flowers, i...Read Moret was realized it is really of the genus Senecio, family Asteraceae and renamed to Senecio niveoaureus Bello Grigio.

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Sold as a bedding/annual/container plant in the USA under the trade name MIGHTY VELVET (TM). Sometimes spelled "Bello Grigio" (I'm not su...Read Morere which is correct.)

It formed a nice dense clump of white/silver basal foliage 14" wide the first season, looking tousled but not unacceptably untidy. (Hardly the graceful silvery fountain that was advertised, but valuable for its outstanding white foliage color, much whiter than Stachys byzantina.) It formed only basal foliage with no stems that first season. I saw no sign of the leaf diseases that so often afflict Stachys byzantina.

It survived the winter here in Z6a with none of the winter leaf damage typical of S. byzantina---the spot was in full sun, with irrigation. But in its second season it sent up such tall stems that we pitched it, as it no longer fit the space. (Stems were close to 3' tall and still lengthening, but beginning to sprawl. Once the stems rose up, the basal foliage disappeared.)

This is said to be an interspecific hybrid, a perennial hardy to USDA Z5.

Stachys ‘Bello Grigio’ is an introduction for 2013 of Bartels Stek from Aalsmeer, Netherlands. A vigorous new perennial from tissue c...Read Moreulture comes after planting with three to four ground shoots. It grows to approximately 40 cm. This variety needs no pinching; it is self-branching. ‘Bello Grigio’ is a stand-alone in the breeding program of Bartels Stek.