Erysimum 'BOWLES' MAUVE'

Shrubby wallflower is a long-flowering perennial, or to be precise a subshrub forming woody stems, exactly like lavender plants do. Bowles’ Mauve is a beautiful variety with mauve flowers that open in late May and continue blooming until autumn. They are small, produced at the tops of erect stems which keep growing and producing new flowers buds over and over until the stem is about 50-60 cm tall. If unsightly it can be clipped off carefully to encourage lateral growth push up new flowering stems. We can see many flowers even in November if the night frost is not deeper than about -4°C.

Evergreen leaves are narrowly lanceolate, blue-green and create a fantastic colour combination with the mauve flowers. This plant will look great in dark mulch as well as very light sand or gravel.

Wallflower needs full sun and very well-drained soil or a raised bed as it dislikes wet places. The soil should be poor and preferably alkaline or neutral. Growers recommend pruning it to about half its size after flowering to keep the shrub neat and bushy. Hardy to about -24°C (USDA zone 6).

Last update 21-06-2011; 15-11-2011