Plant of the Week: Centaurea montana

Vibrant colour on quill-like petals makes it an indispensable plant

Along-time favourite of cottage and flower gardeners everywhere, the perennial cornflower, or great blue-bottle, is one of those indispensable performers that links late spring with the main summer season.

Growing in a wide range of soil types, in sun or part-shade, often where little else seems to thrive, this semi-evergreen produces a ‘tutu’ of quill-like petals on 60cm (2ft) stems clothed with lance-shaped, mid-green leaves, covered in ‘wool’ beneath.

The original species is fairly widespread in the mountains and meadows of Southern Europe, an indicator of its tough constitution – largely due to its deep, questing roots. The one thing it won’t tolerate, however, is constantly wet conditions.

While the wild species has blossoms of an intense cornflower blue, there are a number of colour variants and recent introductions have improved the substance of the flowers and introduced deeper pinks, purples, bi-colours and even dark maroon shades that appear almost black. Trimmed back after flowering, it’ll soon produce a sheaf of fresh, new foliage and blossoms.

It’s a plant that can be planted and left alone, making it ideal for wild gardens and naturalising in rough meadows. Once established, plants can spread to form colonies, particularly in fertile soil. After transplanting, any thick roots left behind readily produce new plantlets, which is one reason why it has naturalised well in the UK.