An Oregon native wildflower with gray green foliage and pretty dried pearly white flowers, pearly everlasting is an easy plant for a native garden. At the height of summer, plants grow up to 3 feet, and blooms last until the heavy rains come. If you harvest the flowers when the weather is dry, you can store them and use them in dried flower arrangements. Plants prefer full sun and tolerate most soils. They spread by underground rhizomes and so do best in an open area with space to grow.

An infusion of pearly everlasting leaves and flowers is a gentle and soothing anti-infammatory wash for irritated and lax skin and mucous membranes.  With enough sea salt to make an isotonic solution, it also makes a soothing eyewash.