About this variety
The native British member of the family, and the moody one. Deep maroon-purple flowers, the colour of dried wine, held in tall airy sprays above a rosette of grey-green leaves so softly hairy that they genuinely do feel like a dog's tongue, which is where the name comes from.
It is a biennial. A leafy rosette in year one, flower spires from May to July in year two, then it dies. Sow a short row two years running and you will always have some coming. It thrives on dry sandy and chalky ground where most cottage perennials give up, and long-tongued bumblebees value it because few early-summer flowers have tubes this deep.
Two warnings, and they matter. All parts contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids and it should not be eaten by anyone. Wear gloves to handle it, and keep it away from grazing animals, for whom it is genuinely dangerous. It was used in old herbal medicine and is no longer considered safe. And the seeds are burrs. They hook onto fur, socks and coat sleeves and travel, which is how it spreads, so cut the heads before they ripen if you have dogs or would rather it stayed put.
