There’s a reason Helichrysum has earned names like “everlasting,” “strawflower,” and “golden immortelle.” Across Africa, Eurasia, Madagascar, and even parts of Australia, this remarkable genus has adapted into an astonishing range of forms – from compact alpine cushions on windswept peaks to sprawling coastal pioneers on dunes, and tall, aromatic shrubs rising through savanna grassland. Many species seem almost sculpted for harshness: felted leaves that reflect heat, resinous scent glands that reduce water loss, and papery bracts that hold their colour long after flowering.

In southern Africa especially, Helichrysum becomes a signature of wild landscapes. Some species carpet high Drakensberg slopes like silver mats; others form tidy, upright tufts in montane grassland; and some are so specialised that they cling to cliff faces or root into shallow pockets of stony soil. The flowers, often arranged in tight button-clusters or open daisy-like heads, glow in tones of yellow, cream, white, pink, copper, red, and rose – and in many species the “petals” are actually brilliantly coloured bracts that preserve their beauty even when dried.

Beyond their ornamental appeal, Helichrysum carries deep cultural importance. Many species are traditionally used for fragrance, medicinal preparations, ceremonial burning, and as protective plants. For modern growers, they offer the irresistible combination of wild provenance, drought resilience, and striking textures – a true collector’s genus, equally suited to naturalistic gardens, rockeries, alpine troughs and habitat restoration planting.

Helichrysum bachmannii

A genuinely uncommon offering for fynbos collectors, Helichrysum bachmannii is a South African endemic scrambling shrub that can bring soft, grey texture and airy, open inflorescences into coastal or lowland fynbos-style gardens. It has a “wild West Coast” character that looks natural among restios, grasses, and other sandveld companions.

It’s a well-branched, scrambling shrub up to about 2 m, with greyish-white tomentose young branches and narrow, revolute leaves that keep the plant looking silvery even out of flower. The heads are tiny but numerous in corymbose clusters, and the involucral bracts are opaque white (not strongly radiating), giving a subtle pale “mist” effect rather than a big daisy-like flash. Flowering is recorded from August to November.

In nature it’s recorded from sand or rock outcrops around Velddrif, Vredenburg and Hopefield in the Swartland of the south-western Cape – fynbos biome territory – and is noted as very rarely collected. Internationally, that translates to a plant likely happiest in Mediterranean-type climates with winter rainfall patterns or dry-summer regimes, provided drainage is excellent.