In my garden dusty miller is t huge thug! It will take over a garden travelling by offsets and seeding all over the place.
Not that I would suggest that you are too busy to garden....with 4 little ones LOL! but they seem to behave better when neglected and not watered, never fed and generally ignored.
They look lovely....but iof they start to run....catch them quickly!
Linda C

LOL....I realized that the net formatted my measurements incorrectly....I really did use the symbol for "inches", not "feet". They are 18 inches wide and 12 inches tall. Whew!!

I've had Dusty Miller overwinter too, when the winter's mild and I've mulched the area. It's always a pleasant surprise to see that I don't have to re-plant!

Does anyone have any experience growing Dusty Miller from cuttings? We have had a really warm winter so far and I just took a bunch of cuttings today.

I really don't understand your surprise since Dusty Miller IS a perennial.
Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Dusty Miller

Jim,

OP lives in zone 5 (Michigan). Dusty Miller is only supposed to be hardy to zone 8 (7 on the outside). In lower zones it is referred to as an "annual" because it "should not" winter over in our lower climates.

There are many plants that we grow as "annuals" even though they are hardy perennials elsewhere (higher zones).

Hope that clarifies the confusion for you... :o)

webkat,
Sorry, but that doesn't clear up much, since there are posts on this thread, declaring it to be perennial in zones 3,4,and 5.
Jim

Plants in our area are sold as annuals if they are not expected to survive our winters.

Dusty Miller, and other supposed tender perennials, have always been referred to and sold as an annuals in our zone (and most likely any zone cooler than zones 7-8).

It is considered a "pot filler" and not expected to survive.

This is why OP is surprised that her "annual" Dusty Miller returned from the same roots the following spring.

I've never had one survive a zone 4/5 winter but I agree with the op--they look really nice throughout the winter. I have some in a large pot sitting in front of my garage. The silver leaves and stalks covered with snow add an attractive accent. Since we are having a very mild winter, I will give the ones in the garden some time to recover this spring to see if there might be some life left in them.

I've had Dusty Miller occasionally survive for me over the winter, but their return has always been spotty and they have never made it through a 2nd winter for me. Well done, Sandiv!

Maybe next year I'll try leaving some and see what happens. Though the last few years we've had such poor snow cover that it's been iffy as to whether or not the marginally hardy things would make it let alone things that are several zones removed from here. I'm so thankful that we now have 3 or 4 inches of snow on the ground. Wish we'd get at least 4 or 5 more.

This year I brought several in, took cuttings and left a few outside. I really love the effect of these plants in the garden, so this way perhaps I'll wind up with some for this year! Although they were winter sown, so I certainly can to that again, but the prospect of large clumps is very appealing.

I have had the dianthus that is sold as annuals come back. Also the sweet allyssum sometimes comes back. (reseeds?). I also have cosmos reseed.

Just wanted to share a bit of information.
When it comes to Dusty Miller...(Senecio Cineraria) It actually really ends up depending on what variety of dusty miller your choosing to grow.
For example (Senecio Cineraria) thrives in zones 7 - 10 but will also perennial in zones 5 - 6 with some losses. Obviously depending on how bad that winter actually was.
You could also go with (Silver Brocade) which looks very similar but is considered perennial zones 2- 9. The hardy variety!!!
Anyways...This is all from my own experience and some varieties researched online!
Hope that helps :-)

Well, now I'll have to try leaving some out through the winter to see what happens. Unfortunately, the stores in this area have caught on and sell dianthus as perennials ... at perennial prices, of course. In mild winters, I have had snapdragons overwinter - not reseed - overwinter: new green growth emerging from the old woody stems. Doesn't happen often, though.

Rkapolka, I've had fairly good success rooting cuttings of dusty miller. Hope yours will do as well.

Awesome! But what zone are you in?

Dusty miller IS a perennial........just a somewhat cold sensitive one that may act like an annual in colder winter climates. As long as soil is well drained, it should overwinter quite well in zones 7 and above and with mulching and/or snow cover, even into some of the lower zones as well.

And it's the occasional 'perennial' in zone 4 when we have a mild winter. This year, about 3/4 of last year's dusty miller returned for me. Happens periodically.

Just a note, the "Silver Brocade" is actually a variety of artemesia, not senecio. Artemesia tends to be much hardier than senecio cultivars.

This past winter all of my (poorly mulched) Dusty Millers along with my snaps survived in my 6A garden; it was a relatively mild winter but we did have temperatures in the single digits for a while.

I think a lot of us have microclimates in our gardens and beds that are a zone or two higher than the technical zone for our geographical area. Especially if you live in an area with lots of houses and trees, all of your neighbors provide more shelter than you'd think, and then your own house and plantings provide more.