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Bachelor Button Tall Blend Seed
Centaurea - cyanus
$1.69

Item #1176

Annual. Summer bloom. 24" - 36" tall. Full sun. Drought tolerant. With a wonderful blend of colors, this tall blend adds vertical interest to your garden. They are also attractive as cut or dried flowers. Will "naturalize" - the seed the plant drops quite readily comes back next year to produce another crop of black flowers. Plants get too vegetative and have fewer flowers when grown in rich, over-fertilized soils. In other words, the worse the soil, the better! An additional fun story: When Napoleon forced Queen Louise of Prussia from Berlin, she hid her children in a corn field and kept them entertained and quiet by weaving wreaths of Cornflowers (Bachelor Button). One of the children, Wilhelm, ultimately became the emperor of Germany. Remembering his mother's bravery, he made the Cornflower a national emblem of unity. Bachelor Button is known in England as Cornflower where the plant often comes up in fields of grain. The flowers are edible and have a sweet or clove-like flavor. They make a pretty garnish for salads.

When to plant outside: RECOMMENDED. Early spring, 1-2 weeks after average last frost. Plant in late summer/early fall in warm climates for winter bloom. Easy to grow from seed outdoors.

When to start inside: Not recommended. Does not transplant well.

Special Germination Instructions: Seed requires darkness to germinate. Sow 1/4" deep. (Some gardeners like to pre-chill seed in the refrigerator at 40 degrees for 5 days before planting, but this isn't necessary. Bachelor Buttons germinate very easily without this step.) Seed 1" apart and thin to 6"-8" apart when seedlings are 1"-2" tall.