Also known as the ‘Pincushion Flower’, Scabiosa atropurpurea flowers on strong tall stems in high summer.

These delicate blooms dance in the breeze attracting bees and butterflies.

Plants will grow too quickly from an autumn sowing, so we will delay sowing until late winter when the light levels return.

Sow one seed per cell making a small impression in the compost and laying the seed in the dip.

As seeds germinate, I find they can push themselves up, out of the compost.

Light aids germination so we don’t want to cover seeds. Simply back fill the dip with compost later to secure and support seedlings as they grow.

For busy gardeners you can now plan ahead with our Grow-A-Long Handbooks.

It contains technical growing information including plant heights and spacing, what to pinch and when, key dates to help you plan for the growing season ahead, and a sowing schedule.

Scabious (scabiosa atropurpurea) is covered in the Autumn Jump Starter Handbook.