Cornflower Blue Ball

Close your eyes and imagine a country cottage garden. Slightly wild and utterly charming, overflowing with colour, scent and the peaceful humming sound of busy pollinators. Which flowers come to mind? Possibly roses, perhaps hollyhocks?…. and most definitely cornflowers. No cottage garden would be complete without them.

Once a common sight in cornfields across the UK, before the use of herbicides, these brilliant, cobalt blue, native flowers are now a rare sight but thankfully live on in our gardens. They are a dream to grow. Easy, prolific, (producing endless amounts of flowers over several months if you keep on top of the dead-heading), beloved of butterflies and bees and will happily self-seed.

They also make excellent cut flowers, lasting for 5-7 days in a vase.

Plant Care Tips

Grow in poor, well-drained soil and in full sun and it is advisable to grow through some netting as they are prone to flopping over in high winds without support.
Sow in September for larger, stronger plants and/or in late April
Can be sown in modules to transplant later or direct into the soil
Pre-water the soil before sowing
Sow thinly and cover only very lightly. Do not let the soil dry out.
Prefer poor soil, well-drained soil and full sun
Keep cutting and deadheading to encourage more blooms

Details

RHS Plants for Pollinators.

The RHS Plants for Pollinators mark is only given to plants that support pollinating insects.

Find out more at rhs.org.uk/plantsforpollinators