A truly striking perennial plant, with single pink flowers that brighten beds and borders for weeks.
About the variety. This variety reaches 40–70 cm in height and combines ornamental appeal, medicinal properties, and a tremendous attraction for pollinators — bees, butterflies, and birds visit it regularly. The flowers are edible.
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Certified organic
PT-BIO-03
EU/non-EU Agriculture
Certified organic
PT-BIO-03
EU/non-EU Agriculture
| Days to flowering | 100–120 days from transplanting |
|---|---|
| Germination | 7–21 days |
| Sowing depth | 0.5–1 cm |
| Spacing | 25–30 × 30–40 cmin the row × between rows |
| Plant height | 40–70 cm |
| Ideal temperature | 15–25 °C |
| Soil pH | 6.0–7.5 |
| Frost | Hardy |
Indicative windows; adjust them to your local climate.
Growing guide
A step-by-step growing guide, from sowing to harvest.
Sow in a tray half a centimetre deep. Germination is slow and uneven, ten to thirty days, and improves a great deal with three or four weeks of cold in the fridge before sowing. Transplant at four to six true leaves. It is perennial: the first year makes mostly foliage and root, and full flowering comes in the second. Sow in autumn or at the end of winter. Harden the plants off outdoors for a week before planting and give them 30 to 40 cm of room, because the clump widens over the years.
It adapts to ordinary free draining soils at a pH between 6.0 and 7.5. Over rich soil is counter productive: it gives tall leafy plants with few flowers, and that is the commonest mistake in flower beds. If the soil is heavy, work in coarse sand or compost to improve drainage, because standing water in winter rots the roots.
It wants full sun, at least six hours a day, and temperatures between 15 °C and 25 °C. It is perennial and hardy: frost does not end its cycle, it simply pulls the plant back and it comes up again in spring. Once established it is markedly drought resistant, which makes it easy inland in Iberia. It lives and flowers for several years in the same place. The same calendar applies in Italy: conditions in the centre and south are close to those of southern Portugal and Spain, and those of the north to central France. At the height of summer flowering slows and the flowers come smaller: light shade over midday and regular watering keep the plant going. In cold regions plant early, so the root is made before winter; from the second year on it takes any frost.
It needs very little. Ordinary soil with some mature compost is enough, and excess nitrogen is counter productive because it gives plenty of leaf and few flowers. To push flowering, apply a potassium rich feed when the first buds appear.
Water regularly during establishment and moderately after that, letting the surface dry between waterings. Water at the base in the morning, because wet flowers rot and damp foliage brings powdery mildew.
Hoe often and always shallowly, because the roots are short, near the surface and break easily. The best method is to prepare the bed two or three weeks in advance, let the first flush of weeds germinate, remove it and only then sow: that gives you a decisive head start. A thin layer of sieved compost between the rows greatly reduces later work.
Aphids gather on flower buds and soft tips and are the commonest pest: apply potassium soap and encourage ladybirds and hoverflies, which do most of the work. Slugs and snails destroy seedlings: protect with an ash barrier in the first weeks. Thrips and red spider mite appear in dry heat. Avoid spraying during flowering, so you do not harm pollinators.
Powdery mildew covers the leaves with white bloom at the end of summer and is nearly unavoidable on crowded plants: space well and apply potassium bicarbonate at the first signs. Botrytis rots the flowers in damp weather and damping off kills seedlings in waterlogged sowings. Remove faded flowers and diseased leaves regularly.
Cut the flowers early in the morning, as they open but before they are fully out, and put them straight into water. In the first year the plant mostly makes foliage and root: allow about 100 to 120 days from transplanting to the first flowers, but full flowering only comes in the second year. At the end of autumn cut the dry stems back, or leave them standing for the birds. The reference colour is pink.
