I inherited a bunch of Dusty Miller in the flower beds when I moved into this house. Last summer, after they flowered, the plants sort of separated in the middle, leaving a big hole in the middle of the plant. Several of them died not too long afterwards.

Last week, one of the plants, just withered up overnight, and seemed to be immediately dead.

I noticed tonight that several of the larger plants that have just finished flowering are starting to do that separating in the middle number.

As I understand it, DM's are drought tolerant, so I don't give them a lot of water, but they should be getting enough.

I really don't want to lose them, because there are so many, and they are so big, it would leave huge gaps in the borders.

Any ideas?

If we have the same Centaurea cineraria, Caro, mine did better after I cut off the blooming stalks – even before the buds opened.
Another thought: They do tend to get root rot, which may have set in from last months rain and is just now doing them in.

In England Dusty Miller is Lychnis coronaria. I know we all hate those Latin names - especially when those *&@! botanists keep on changing them - but they do help to avoid confusion. Lychnis is drought tolerant as well. Do you grow it and if not do you want some seed?

Nicola, we call that one Campion over here. Do you have the red, white or pink? Its way different than as Maggie said the Centaurea cineraria we call Dusty Miller. Strange isn't it that there would be 2 plants with the same "common" name?

No, in answer to your question, I don't have any Lychnis presently. Don't believe I have ever had any, although I've seen it in the books. I would love to have some seed, if I can get it without breaking any laws. Maggie, do you know anything about getting seeds internationally?

I agree with Maggie on the Dusty miller...I use to grow it but it would bloom and then just fade away....I will not ever grow it again.....I would prefer Lamb's ear it will like all the heat and no extra care...

David you are absolutely right about the lamb's ear. I much prefer it as well. Suppose as the Dusty Miller die off, I could just replace with Lamb's ear, and maybe that wouldn't break the bank. Naturally, don't have a single DM in the beds that I have to completely dig up this fall. Did I mention this before? For some unknown reason, on one side of my house, the foundation beds are about 6-8" BELOW the level of the lawn, and a whopping 1-1/2' below where the soil should be on the foundation of the house. When it rains, it becomes a moat. So, for now, am just trying to keep those beds looking nice enough where it doesn't drive me nuts, but not put too much effort into them, since they're history in a couple of months anyway. But like I said, the DM is not in that area, of course.

I have white, pink and white with a pink centre in the Lychnis but I find the white with the pink centre fades away. As far as I know there are no restrictions on sending seed. If there is then Maggie and I have already broken the law!! In England Campion is Silene. It is not unusual for more than one plant to share a common name, even worse is when one plant has lots of common names. If you would like some seed just mail me with your snail mail details and I would be happy to send some.

Caro, folks often mail seeds round the world. I have confirmed with the US post office that seed shipping is still ok from this end. Bulbs and plants are more complicated. The only Lychnis I’ve come across over here was L. chalcedonica, so it would be esp interesting to try Nicole’s L. coronaria.
Let’s play with those names. The Botanica list 5 different plants sharing the common name of ‘Dusty Miller’ ! Here they are for the fun of it:
Artemisia stellerianna, Centaurea cineraria, Lychnis coronaria, Senecio cineraria, Senecio viravira, Tanacetum ptarmiciflorum.

I have noticed a number of common name conflicts in Anglo and American gardens. One that to comes to mind right now is ‘bachelor buttons’. It is the Amer common name for Gomphrena globosa and in England, it is the common name for Centaurea uniflora. But then,,,, Botanica lists a total of 5 different plants known by the BB name ... init great?!

Much safer to use the latin names, don't you agree Maggie, though the common ones always sound so interesting. I always thought Dusty Miller was an Auricula, but that may be a local thing.

Do I detect a sheepish response to a recent E in that post ;-)
All this sounds like a fun NEW topic - Favorite Plant Names. Let's have a go...

Just to confuse things further Maggie, the common name for Lychnis chalcedonica is Maltese Cross.