Centaurea dealbata

Centaurea dealbata
Persian cornflower, knapweed

SIZE/TYPE	low perennial
USUAL HEIGHT	0.3-0.4m
USUAL WIDTH	0.3-0.5m
LEAVES	deciduous broadleaf
COLOUR OF LEAVES	light green
FLOWERS	showy
COLOUR OF FLOWERS	combined:deep pink and lilac and cream
BLOOMING TIME	May - June
LOCATION	full sun
USDA zone (lowest)	4 (down to -34°C)
WINTER PROTECTION
FOR ZONE 5+6
FOR ZONE 7
BELONGS TO CATEGORIES	Perennials

Cornflowers are popular cottage perennials of Czech and Slovak countryside. Its blue version is native to lower mountains of Šumava and Nové Hrady in the Czech Republic. I can understand that farmers are unhappy when its close relative cornflower (centaurea cyanus) weeds in their fields but looking at a blue mass of just blooming bluets is fantastic and brings us back to our childhood when we used to appreciate simple beauty of nature and its colours.

Persian cornflower, also called knapweed, is a unique version of this beloved perennial with large, deep lilac pink flowers with creamy white centres. They open from late May atop about 30-40 cm stems if grown in full sun. But if they have to fight for sun with other taller plants close by they may rise up to some 70 cm. It makes a compact, bushy clump with attractive, fern-like, deeply dissected foliage of fresh green colour. Persian cornflower originates in Caucasus.

Grow it in a sunny border in free-draining soil that is medium fertile and preferably evenly moist rather than dry on hot summer days. It can be cut back by about two thirds after flowering to encourage new foliage that will keep the plant attractive by the end of the season. Plants can be divided every 2-3 years in early spring or late autumn. Hardy to about -34°C (USDA zone 4)

Last update 02-07-2016

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GLOSSARY

STANDARD QUALITY - Plants of this group are 1st class quality with number of branches and overall density adequate to their size and age, considering they were container grown.
DE LUXE QUALITY - This label guarantees a luxurious quality of manually selected plants that, compared to their height and age, are exceptionally dense and beautiful.
EXTRA - These plants are usually mature and bigger specimens with exceptional overall appearance.
STANDARD (as described in the plant form) means a tree with a trunk of 190-210 cm and a crown at the top, unless specified differently. The commercial size for trees is their girth measured in the height of 1m from ground.
HOBBY - These plants are of the same quality as our standard-quality plants but younger and therefore cheaper.
SHRUB - a woody plant with branches growing bushy from the ground level.
HALF-STANDARD or MINI-STANDARD - a small tree with shorter trunk, its size is usually specified.
FEATHERED - These are trees with branches growing already from the base of the trunk and up along the stem.
GRASSES and PERENNIALS - Sizes given usually read the diameter of the pot or the clump, as specified.