Blossom of snow: A starry symbol of the Alps makes an unusual addition to rock gardens

If you’re looking to plant a rare flower with a storied past that’s had a well-known song written about it, edelweiss will check all your boxes.My mother grew up in northeastern Italy, just over the Austrian border, near the Alps, where edelweiss grow wild along steep rocky ledges. When I was a child, she told me stories about the elusive white flowers, and how young men had died after climbing and falling from the cliffs while trying to pick edelweiss for their beloveds.One, an 18-year-old named Auguste Loubet, fell to his death in the French Alps in 1939 while trying to get a flower for his sweetheart. His death is the only documented case of “Death by Edelweiss” that I could verify, but folklore claims there have been many others.I know that’s pretty dark territory for a gardening colum