Scabiosa ‘Crown’ Seedling.

Scabiosa ‘Crown’ is a cracker…it may not have the RHS plant of merit award but it certainly gets the Higgledy Garden ‘Cracker of Distinction’ award. This is one Scabiosa that will always be found knocking around somewhere in my cutting patch.

The seedling pictured is about 6 or 7 weeks old…it is progressing probably a little slower than it would in most years but it has once again been a challenging start to the annual flower season.

I shall be making an Autumn sowing of Scabiosa ‘Crown’ too…this will give me bigger, stronger plants that will flower earlier on in the season…then sow some more seeds next spring and I will be blessed with a long and fruity flowering season….(well…perhaps not ‘fruity’)

5 Top Tips For Growing Annual Scabiosa From Seed.

*Although you can direct sow seeds into the soil from mid April…I tend to sow in modules, undercover from early April…then plant out the seedlings six weeks later making sure there are no frosts around the corner…if so just wait…despite being hardy they won’t be impressed from going from the windowsill into a freezer.

*Space plants to a foot apart….this will give you oodles of nice clear space into which you can hoe off all the pesky weeds that will arrive to spoil your summer.

* Keep picking your Scabious flowers and they will keep producing flowers for you…for months…oh yes indeed…our Scabiosa friend is a generous one.

*Scabiosa flowers can be perhaps too flouncy on their own so I suggest adding some Nicotiana ‘Lime Green’ to your arrangements…this will calm things down…and perhaps add something with a ‘spire’ vibe going on…Larkspur ‘Imperials’ are always pretty good at playing the part of the ‘Spirey Hero’.

*Scabiosa are a Mecca for bees and other pollinators…so if you are planning a cut flower garden with bees in mind…don’t miss this one. NB See my ‘Bee Friendly’ Collection if you are up for wildlife flowers…yes…the collection that The Guardian keep raving about. ;)

I sell my Scabiosa ‘Crown’ at £1.95 for 40ish seeds. 

‘Give us a bit of Scabiosa triva Mr Higgledy!’

…well….ok….it gets its rather unattractive name from the fact that it used to be used by our ancestors to treat sores…especially in the time of the plague…however only the healers of the time would pick the flower as it was believed that if anyone else did…the Devil would appear at their beds at night. …you have been warned….

Scabiosa is certainly one to try in your cut flower patch…it’s easy…reliable…and very very beautiful….in many ways much like my good self.

Have fun one and all. :)

Benjamin

PS If you enjoyed this post then perhaps you may like to shuffle over and read my ‘Flowers To Sow In June‘ article…