Plant in part sun to light shade in a well-drained soil. Although this plant can take periods without water and is marketed as a drought tolerant plant in New Zealand, it likely will look better if given occasional to regular irrigation in our dry summers in California - this being said, a plant in the ground in our own garden goes months between watering. Hardy to about 20-25 degrees F. With its parentage this plant may well be tolerant of coastal conditions.

Astelia 'Silver Shadow' is a hybrid cultivar bred and selected by Tim and Hamish Prebble in December 2004 from seedlings resulting in the cross they made between the Astelia chathamica as the seed parent and Astelia nervosa as the pollen parent in November 2003. Astelia chathamica, the Silver Spear is a large plant that comes from the Chatham Islands, located over 400 nautical miles east of the North and South Island of New Zealand and Astelia nervosa, the Mountain Astelia, is an evergreen perennial that comes from the tussock grasslands of the central North Island of New Zealand. It differs from Astelia chathamica in having smaller leaves that have a silver overlay on both upper and lower surfaces while Astelia chathamica is green above and silvery-white below. It differs from its other parent, Astelia nervosa, in having larger stature and broader longer leaves and a silver overlay on both upper and lower surfaces while Astelia nervosa typically only has this on the upper surface.

Astelia 'Silver Shadow' is protected in Europe by European Plant Breeders Rights number EU 20102227 and in the United States by US Plant Patent PP22,195 issued on October 11, 2011. Astelia are dioecious, having male and female flowers on separate plants and neither are usually showy and are usually are buried down in the foliage - at the time of patent filing, no flower production had been observed but others since have reported this to be a female plant and some online sources list the plant with insignificant white flowers followed by red berries, which implies that this cultivar is female but we have not ourselves verified this. The genus name comes from combining the Greek words 'a' meaning "without" and 'stele' meaning a "trunk" or "pillar" in reference to these plants not forming a stem or trunk. They have long been considered part of the Liliaceae family but most recent treatment puts them in the Asteliaceae family in the Asparagales order with the relatively unknown genera Collospermum, Milligania and Neoastelia.

We have grown this very beautiful plant since 2012 and have grown its seed parent Astelia chathamica since 1988, a cultivar of its pollen parent Astelia nervosa since 2010, and we introduced the durable and attractive Astelia banksii into the California nursery trade in 1999. One might say we have a fascination with Astelia! 

The information about Astelia 'Silver Shadow' PP 22,195 displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant.