Craspedia is recognisable at a glance: a perfectly round yellow ball on a thin straight stem. It adds a playful note to bouquets, and dried it keeps its colour for years, so florists use it in both fresh and dried designs. Here is what the plant is, how to grow it from seed and how to dry it properly.
Craspedia globosa (botanists now place it in the genus Pycnosorus) is a perennial of the daisy family from Australia, where it is called billy buttons. Stems 50–80 cm tall rise from a silvery rosette of leaves, each topped with a ball 2–3 cm across. The ball is actually a head of about a hundred tiny tubular florets packed tightly together. Craspedia blooms in summer and dries easily right on the stem without losing its shape.
The yellow balls act as graphic accents: florists place them above the main mass of flowers to make a bouquet look fuller and more cheerful. Craspedia pairs with blue and purple flowers (cornflowers, eryngium, irises), with white roses and gypsophila, and in dried designs with statice, bunny tails and wheat. A few stems in a clear vase make a minimalist decoration on their own.
Cut the stems once the balls are fully coloured and firm. Gather small bunches and hang them upside down in a dark, dry, airy place for 1–2 weeks, or simply stand them in a vase without water — the stems are stiff and will not bend. Dried craspedia keeps its yellow colour for years if kept out of direct sun.
In Ukraine craspedia is grown as an annual from seedlings. Sow in February–March on the surface of light compost, pressing the seed in lightly; it germinates in 1–3 weeks at 18–22 °C. Plant out after the May frosts in a sunny spot with well-drained sandy soil, 25–30 cm apart. Water moderately: craspedia copes with drought better than with waterlogging. It flowers from July until autumn.
About two weeks fresh, after which it simply dries while keeping its shape and colour.
Its natural colour is yellow. Pink, blue or white versions are dyed dried heads.
In February–March, so the plants flower in July.
Usually not: in our climate it is grown as an annual.
Author: Maria Svitlovir
Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.
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