Centaurea Perennial Cornflower

Perennial Cornflowers are hard working plants that will bring plenty of flowers to your garden from late spring to early autumn. The brilliant colour will light up your garden through summer. The blooms are also great for picking and this surprisingly tough plant is simple to grow, even in poor soils.

Perennial Cornflowers will form a nice bushy clump of soft green, deeply divided leaves. They are easy to grow, and are both frost and dry tolerant. Beneficial insects such as bees and butterflies love them too.

Perennial Cornflowers are good in borders, beds or containers.

Grow Perennial Cornflowers in a sunny position in moderately fertile to humus rich, well drained soil. They are quite tolerant of poor soils, and if the soil is too rich they may become leggy and need to be staked. Water in, Centaurea become dry tolerant once established. Remove spent flowers to encourage more and push the show into autumn. Winter dormant, remove spent flowers and foliage to tidy late winter/early spring.

Centaurea dealbata is now Psephellus dealbatus. It is commonly known as Perennial Cornflower, Persian Cornflower, Mealy Centaury, Whitewash Flower and Bachelor's Buttons.