Scabiosa
Question from Charlie:
Years ago I bought a grey-leafed scabiosa – has the typical pincushion flower. I want to find the technical name – I think it may be scabiosa varitoma but can’t confirm using the internet. Do you have any ideas? It grows in a ball shape and can get over a foot tall & 2-3 feet wide. It also
reseeds freely, if the flower heads aren’t cut off.
Answer from Pat:
If you live in Southern California and are growing a scabiosa that is about 2 feet tall by two feet wide with gray-green finely cut leaves and it blooms almost year round if dead-headed occasionally, that is most likely to be Scabiosa columbaria. Two of the best varieties to grow in Southern California and most widely sold are ‘Butterfly Blue’ and ‘Pink Mist.” Where the climate is conducive to germinating the seeds, they do re-seed themselves, but the main plant may die out in winter and new ones come up from seeds that you can move around in spring. Scabiosa’s grow and bloom very well in interior zones but are usually not as successful along the coast. If a scabiosa is growing and blooming well near the ocean in Southern California, it is likely to be one of the various new hybrids such as Proven Winners ‘Giant Blue’, or others that may do well for a season, but usually don’t have enough winter chill to be perennial. These do not leave seedlings.
Thank you. I looked up the columbaria & it has green, ferny type leaves, which my plant does not.
My plants leave are really quite gray & in a spiral cluster – each about 1/2″ long & solid, with no cutting around the edges.
I live in Lakeside and it thrives with very little water. It also only blooms in the spring. My plants do not die out in winter, but do get quite woody with age. Any other ideas?
How about Scabiosa graminifolia?—Truly gray leaves, blue flowers. sometimes called Lomelosia graminifolia.( ‘Pinkushion’ from Alan Bloom, is a pink-flowered cultivar.) Strike a bell? Or here is another idea: Scabiosa cretica. It has gray foliage, blue flowers, makes a neat mound of foliage. Drought resistant once established and wants no summer water. Sound like it?
Scabiosa cretica it is! Photos look just like my plants. Thank you so much.
Hey, that’s great news! Scabiosa cretica, from the island of Crete is a plant well-adapted to our Southern California, dry Mediterranean climate. It’s excellent in rock gardens. It can take hot interior heat or survive also along the coast. For readers of this blog, I should mention also that Annie’s Annuals is a reliable source for this plant.