A Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden "Cornflower Snowman" vase, filled with fluffy white double blooms, sits on a wooden surface against a plain light wall.
A Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden "Cornflower Snowman" vase, filled with fluffy white double blooms, sits on a wooden surface against a plain light wall.Six Cornflower Snowman stems from Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden, featuring ruffled double white blooms and green stems, are arranged diagonally on a dark gray wooden surface with visible buds and leaves.A hand holds a 'Cornflower Snowman' from Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden before a field of double-bloom cornflowers in purple, blue, and white—a charming cottage garden framed by fence and distant trees.A hand holds Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden’s Cornflower Snowman, a small white vase filled with double blooms, outdoors on a sunny patio surrounded by green plants and colorful cottage garden flowers.A close-up of a Cornflower Snowman bloom from Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden, showcasing its white petals amid green grass and buds under a partly cloudy blue sky.A close-up of the Cornflower Snowman bouquet by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden, showcasing a large white spiky flower surrounded by double blooms and vibrant blue cornflowers for a charming cottage garden style.A close-up of Cornflower Snowman by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden shows white and purple double blooms among tall green grass, evoking the charm of a cottage garden with softly blurred wildflowers in the background.The Cornflower Snowman ceramic mug by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden, filled with white and purple cottage-garden blooms, rests on a white surface beside a green heart-shaped ceramic piece.A close-up of Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden’s Cornflower Snowman with double white blooms, pink and blue cornflowers, and green stems in a wildflower meadow beneath a partly cloudy sky.Cornflower Snowman by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden features white and purple double blooms in a blue vase, displayed beside stacked cream ceramic cups and saucers against a light background.
Annual Pollinator

Cornflower Snowman

Centaurea cyanus 'Snowman' — pure white Ball-type double cornflower

£2.30approx. 200 seeds

Pure white, fully double "Ball" cornflowers with discreet blush centres — the bridal cornflower that has graced English weddings for generations. Edible petals.

Sowing months
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Height
60–90cm
Spread
30cm
Spacing
30cm
Position
Full sun
Soil
Lean, well-drained — no manure or fertiliser
Grow guide
How to grow Cornflower Snowman
Read the full guide →
About this variety

Pure white double Ball blooms with a faint blush at the centre, just enough warmth to stop the flower reading as cold. It has been the English wedding buttonhole for generations and it is hard to improve on for the job.

What white does in an arrangement is make everything near it look more saturated. A jug of mixed cornflowers with 'Snowman' in it reads brighter than the same jug without. That is the practical reason to grow it even if white was not what you thought you wanted.

The drawback of any white flower is that it shows everything. Heavy rain spots and browns the outer petals, mud splashes stay visible, and a bloom past its best looks tired rather than gracefully faded. Cut it young, cut it often, and cut ahead of rain if you have a use for it. It is otherwise as tough as the rest of the family, hardy well below anything Norfolk produces, and happy on lean dry ground where fussier things sulk.

Plant alongside

Cornflower Snowman pairs beautifully with these cottage garden classics

Cornflower Blue Ball
Cornflower Blue Ball
£2.30
Amaranthus Red (Love-Lies-Bleeding)
Amaranthus Red (Love-Lies-Bleeding)
£2.25
Antirrhinum Sweet Duet Apple Blossom
Antirrhinum Sweet Duet Apple Blossom
£2.40

RHS Plants for Pollinators

This plant has been assessed by the Royal Horticultural Society and recommended as especially beneficial to bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Growing plants like this directly supports UK pollinator populations — something close to our hearts at Salle Moor Hall Farm, where we see the difference a cottage garden full of the right plants can make.

Learn more at RHS.org.uk →