On Tue, 21 Jul 2015 08:26:01 +0100, Chris Hogg wrote:

On Mon, 20 Jul 2015 23:00:11 +0100, Pam Moore
wrote:

A friend told me she had planted a "Dusty Miller" but she didn't have
a label! Her description was greyish leaves and tall with pink
flowers.
I assume the epithet indicates a farinaceous plant. Any ideas?
I guess that name has been applied to many "floury" plants.


What I know as Dusty Miller and which sounds like what your friend has
planted, is Lychnis coronaria, AKA Silene coronaria. Images here
http://tinyurl.com/qauvdg3 It pops up in my garden from time to time
as it self-seeds freely. Wiki says "It is a perennial growing to 80 cm
(31 in) tall by 45 cm (18 in) wide, with grey felted leaves and
single, bright magenta flowers produced in succession in late summer.
Though short-lived, the plant readily self-seeds in favourable
locations. It is sometimes grown as a biennial"
http://tinyurl.com/nu2twdw

The Wiki entry for Lychnis coronaria also says that other plants
called Dusty Miller are Jacobaea maritima (silver ragwort)
http://tinyurl.com/pn27ece and Centaurea cineraria
http://tinyurl.com/ptdyvhd.

Oh, the joys of common names!

Thanks all. This shows how confusing common names can be. You all
think of different plants. I must have another chat with my friend but
she said TALL so I think probably she has the Lychnis. It seems to fit
her description. It's not a primula, as she knows those!
Thank you.