Persian Cornflower – Vibrant Colour & Stunning Form
The Persian Cornflower in its cultivated form has a striking colour and a beautiful shape. Vivid pink and opens very similar to a thistle shape. Some have a white or cream centre, but in this particular cultivar the centre carries the main colour.
Persian Cornflower not your average Daisy
As part of the Asteraceae family, one of the largest, it resembles so many other members. However, this is likely best classified as a Psephellus dealbatus and not Centaurea. The plant is native from Turkey and up through the Caucasus but introduced to much of Northern Europe.
This plant loves full sun in nutrient-poor but well-drained soil. This makes the plant ideal for a cross between border, cottage garden or pseudo mediterranean garden that is not too hot or dry. Definitely more impressive than the common cornflower.
Veronica brachysiphon is a shrub that is endemic in New Zealand but making its way across the planet to be found in gardens, like UK. It is part of the Plantaginaceae family that includes Antirrhinums and Fox Gloves among many more species. Common name is Hookers Hebe after Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Loved by the Bees
The Bees were very active on this flowering shrub. It thrives on well drained soil and can tolerate a wide range of situations.
Achillea or Yarrow is a species of the family Asteraceae, commonly known as the daisy family. It has many small flowers in a cluster at the top of a thin stalk arising from the base plant and extending high towards the sunlight. It is a native, common wild flower but has many species and cultivars to expand on the basic wild variety.
The name Achillea is from Greek mythology as the leaves were used to treat the wounds of Achilles’ Soldiers. It has many other common names that relate to its medicinal use to heal wounds and stop blood flow.
Achillea or Yarrow, when not in the wild, is a tall flowering plant used in borders of cottage or wildlife gardens. Due to its height and slender form it can compete for space and thrive alongside its neighbours. It best sits mid border and provides clusters of small colourful flowers, tightly packed and resilient. Without neighbouring plants to help it may need support to keep it up and looking its best.
In the natural form the flowers are usually white and clusters as a tightly packed head at the top of the rising stem. There is now a wide variety of colours, from deep reds and pinks through orange, yellow and white. Easy to grow perennial that will keep spreading over time.
The leaves are fern like or feathered, frilly or hairy, and mainly come from the base but also interspaced up the main shoot that holds the flower head at the top. These leaves are often aromatic and edible in small quantities.
Achillea or Yarrows are very tolerant border perennials that can do well in most situations but don’t like heavy, wet soil. They are native to more temperate climates of the Northern Hemisphere.
There are more than 1000 named species, sub-species, or varieties assigned to the genus of Achillea. Two popular species are the Achillea millefolium, common yarrow, and the Achillea ptarmica, sneezewort. Generally, the millefolium has smaller and more tightly packed flower heads, whilst the ptarmica has larger more openly spread flower heads.
Achillea is a good plant to consider for not only its form and long flowering colourful displays, it is very attractive to insects that promote a wider pollination to improve biodiversity, but also has medicinal healing properties that have long been used to treat many different ailments.
On a recent trip to St Julian’s, Malta, strolling down the road from my favourite Sicilian coffee shop, I came across a plant growing in a way I had to seen before. The plant itself was familiar, although there are lots of plants that have fresh new leaves of bright red. This was the first time I had seen a Poinsettia other than in a plant pot in Winter Holidays. Understanding proper poinsettia plant care can help ensure these vibrant plants flourish beyond the holiday season.
This one was growing in a small patch of ground in an otherwise stone paved street. It has shelter from the elements by being close to the building with some overhead protection from the midday sun. The plant looked healthy and had grown to about 2 meters high and 1 meter wide, an impressive feat of poinsettia plant care in an urban environment.
Growing Outside Poinsettia Plant Care
These plants are native of Mexico and Central America where they thrive in a warm stable climate that is moist but well drained. They need some sunshine but don’t like extremes or sudden climate changes. In their native environment they can grow to a height of up to 3 meters, provided they receive the right poinsettia plant care.
The other surprise is that they are in fact a Euphorbia, Euphorbia pulcherrima. The same Genus as commonly called Spurge. I don’t think I will be planting one outside anytime soon as the climate here is just too variable, so likely the next time I see one will be December
Hemp-agrimony – (Eupatorium cannabinum, family: Asteraceae), also known as holy rope. This tall hemp-like flowering perennial plant certainly makes an attractive sight but is also a favourite with the butterflies. Native to most of Europe, NW Africa and Central Asia it is part of the large Asteraceae or daisy family.
Although called a ‘hemp’ and the Latin name suggests a link to the Cannabis plants they are not closely related and not used in the same way. They do have a history of medicinal use as anti-inflammatory and for healing wounds. Otherwise an attractive flowering plant.
The Daisy family, Asteraceae, is the second biggest and provides some of the best loved flowing plants we have. Cosmos are well ordered flowers with fine featherlike leaves that stand tall. The name Cosmos comes from the Greek for ‘ordered world’.
They are well ordered and keep their form, even when massed together, giving a super colourful display in any border. Colours range from chocolate, through orange, magenta, pink and white. All with a yellow centre with radial petals, like little solar systems or galaxies in perfect synchronisation. A very apt name, Cosmos.
The ornate tailed digger wasp is a striking insects with its vividly patterned black and yellow abdomen. This is something I found out when discovering a series of holes in a well trodden path that was hard packed sandy soil. What could they be, ants, miner bees?
Observe for a while and the occupants arrive to hover a moment then go head first into the hole just about wide enough for it to crawl down. It appears to be an ornate tailed digger wasp, now classified as the Cerceris rybyensis, of the family Philanthidae.
These wasps have exceptional burrowing skills, which they use to create underground nests for their young. They are solitary creatures that hunt mining bees to feed off. The tunnel goes down vertically for about 6 inches then turns horizontal.
