Cornflowers

Cornflowers have cheerful blooms that look gorgeous anywhere, but the much-loved blue variety hits another key wherever you plant it around the garden, writes DERYN THORPE

They’re good in pots, spectacular in dense drifts and wonderful in the vegie patch, as they attract bees and other beneficial insects. Cornflowers are one of those versatile and lovable flowers that add colour and movement to gardens. I love their fresh simplicity, and like to dot them among perennials to give a relaxed, wildflower informality to my spring garden.

Cornflowers are native to Europe, and feature bright blooms, with a ball-like centre surrounded by frilly petals, and grass-like, grey-green foliage. The flowers come in shades of blue, white, pink or burgundy, but I always choose the vibrant cobalt blue as it is one of the few truly blue flowers available. Blue complements and intensifies other flower colours and, being the last colour that our brain registers, also has the effect of receding and creating depth in the garden.

planting & care

Cornflower plants need an open, sunny position and free-draining soil that is weed-free and improved with compost. Scatter seeds through the garden bed in autumn to midwinter with seed of other annuals, such as Queen Anne’s lace, poppies and cosmos, then wait for an abundance of spring flowers.

Rake seeds in and then water with a gentle spray. When they are sown in autumn, you tend to get bigger plants and earlier flowers. For a more formal look, make grooves up to 5mm deep and plant a couple of seeds every 30cm or so, or pop a few seeds into a container of potting mix.

Two to four weeks after sowing, pull out excess seedlings to maintain spacing of about 30cm between plants. The extra plants can be successfully transplanted if they’re 3–4cm tall and you take care not to disturb the roots.

Keep the soil moist while the plants are getting established. They tolerate light frosts and are reasonably drought tolerant, but cornflowers grow and flower better when watered regularly. They have floppy stems that easily blow over in the wind, so bang in some stakes or 1m bamboo canes, then tether some mesh netting for the plants to grow through.

Feed with liquid fertiliser every two weeks and regularly clip bunches of blooms, as they re-shoot from the cut stems. Gather before the buds are fully open and they’ll last in the vase for five to seven days before gently fading.