Centaurea cyanus
Jekkapedia
Centaurea cyanus, Cornflower
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Centaurea
Lovely bright blue flowers. Lance shaped, grey green leaves. Culinary; the flower petals are edible and can be used to great effect scattered over salads, rice or in summer drinks.
Characteristics:
• Hardiness: H3 (1 to -5C)
• Type: Annual
• Height: up to 75cm
• Spread: 15cm
Cornflower can be seen at the herb farm in Jekka’s Herbetum and is available to buy as both herb plants and online as herb seeds.
Details
• Aspect: Full Sun
• Soil type: Sand, Loam, Free Draining
• pH: Neutral – Alkaline pH
• Habit: Upright
• Flowering colour: Blue
• Flowering time: Summer
• Uses: Culinary & Medicinal (Read Jekka’s Guide To Culinary Herbs and Medicinal Herbs for more information)
• Attracts pollinators: Yes (Read Jekka’s Guide to Pollinators for more information)
• Container suitability: Yes
• UK native: Yes
• Caution: N/A
Growing
• Grown from seed:
• Indoor Sowing: In early spring, into prepared pots, cover seeds with perlite.
• Outdoor Sowing: In late spring, in a prepared site, where the soil is well drained and the site is sunny. Thin seedlings to 15cm apart.
• Propagation: N/A
• Maintenance: (See Jekka’s Blogs on Early Spring, Late Spring, Summer and Autumn maintenance)
• Harvest: N/A
Available as
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