[PLANT PROFILE] CORNFLOWER

April 23, 2025 Karen Logan

CORNFLOWER

Centaurea cyanus (Bachelor Buttons)

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Late Spring Blues

There’s something magical about walking through the garden in late spring and catching flashes of brilliant cobalt blue dancing in the breeze. That’s the unmistakable charm of Cornflower, also known as Bachelor Buttons, a beloved classic that never goes out of style. Here at Vineyard Gardens, we celebrate this beauty in all its hues: the traditional electric blue, soft pinks and deep purples. As part of Andrew Wiley’s Hardy Annual Project, Cornflower was sown in December to encourage strong root development, and are now ready to be transplanted into your garden.

Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) is a true multitasker. It’s stunning in the garden, a joy in a vase, and secretly useful in more ways than one—from herbal tea to bath salts to everlasting bouquets.

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Why You'll Love

Growing Cornflower

They thrive in full sun and well-drained soil and bloom abundantly in late spring and early summer.

Easy to grow – Even beginning gardeners will find these flowers rewarding.
Pollinator-friendly – Bees and butterflies love them.
Versatile beauty – Ideal for wildflower meadows, cottage gardens, borders, and containers.
Reseed readily – A delightful thing about cornflowers is they reseed themselves in your garden year after year. Plants that reseed are a gardener’s dream—they pop up at just the right time, fill in bare spots, and help tie the garden together beautifully. Cornflowers, along with larkspur and foxgloves, are excellent reseeders that bring a touch of spontaneity and charm to any garden space.

The blooms grow thigh-high on slender stems and create a whimsical, meadow-like effect when planted in mass.

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Varieties Available

at Vineyard Gardens

We carry a colorful selection of Centaurea cyanus to brighten up your garden beds and bouquets:

Blue Boy – The classic brilliant blue that never disappoints
Select Ultraviolet – A moody, rich purple variety
Lady Mauve – Soft and romantic in pink tones

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Harvesting for

Cut Flowers

Cornflowers make wonderful cut flowers, especially for rustic, natural-style arrangements.

Cut early in the morning, just as the flower is starting to open.
Strip the lower leaves before placing in water.
Change the water every other day to extend vase life.

Cornflowers last around 5–7 days in a vase and pair beautifully with other cottage garden favorites like yarrow, snapdragons, and larkspur.

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Ready to

Grow Your Own?

Whether you're filling a wildflower border or planting for pollinators, cornflowers are the perfect addition to your late spring palette.

Don’t forget to tag us in your cornflower creations. We’d love to see your gardens, bouquets, and dried flower projects!

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Learn About : LARKSPUR

Learn About : SPRING BLOOMS & POLLINATORS

[PLANT PROFILE] AMMI

April 16, 2025 Karen Logan

Ammi and Cosmos ‘Double Click Cranberries”

A Touch of Whimsy

If you've ever wanted your garden to feel like illustrations from a romantic storybook, Ammi is your flower.

Ammi brings a soft, graceful texture to garden beds and bouquets with its lacy, delicate blooms and feathery foliage. It’s like nature’s lace—light, elegant, and full of charm.

At Vineyard Gardens, we’re proud to be part of Andrew Wiley’s Hardy Annual Project, and that means we’ve got strong, healthy Ammi plants just waiting to bring their magic to your garden. These were sown in December, a technique that allows their roots to develop deeply and ensures robust, resilient plants that bloom beautifully in the months ahead

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Ammi Varieties

at Vineyard Gardens

✧ Ammi majus ‘Select White’: Pure white, delicate blooms that resemble Queen Anne’s Lace. They bring a lightness and airiness to garden beds and are breathtaking in wedding bouquets or wildflower-style arrangements.

✧ Ammi visnaga ‘Green Mist’: Soft green-tinted white blooms with a fuller, denser flower head. The perfect filler flower, Green Mist adds a gentle, misty quality to both borders and floral work. Known for its vigorous growth, it can spread easily in the right conditions—great for some gardens, but it might be a bit too assertive in more managed spaces.

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Why Grow Ammi?

Ethereal beauty – Soft, lace-like blooms
Cut Flowers – A must-have for garden-style floral arrangements
Pollinator-friendly – Bees and butterflies adore them
Cold-hardy annuals – Early sowing leads to early blooming!

Ammi bridges the gap between structure and softness—perfect for cottage gardens, naturalistic plantings, and cutting gardens.

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How to Grow

Ammi in Your Garden

Now is the perfect time to plant our winter-sown Ammi —strong and rooted thanks to winter sowing.

Location: Full sun to part shade
Soil: Well-drained, average garden soil
Spacing: 9–12 inches apart to allow for their airy shape
Watering: Keep moist during establishment, then water during dry spells

Once established these low maintenance beauties will reward you with tall, graceful stems topped with dreamy blooms from late spring into summer.

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Cut Flower Magic

Ammi’s doily lace form adds movement and softness to any bouquet.

Harvest when about 80% of the tiny flowers in the head have opened.
Cut early in the morning for longest vase life.
Strip lower leaves before placing in water.
Pair with peonies, snapdragons, cosmos, or roses for a garden-gathered look.

Digitalis purpurea, Antirrhinum Potomac Dark Pink with Ammi majus and Ammi visnaga ‘Green Mist’

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What You

Can Do Now

Stop by our nursery to pick up Vineyard Gardens winter sown Ammi
Prep your garden beds for easy transplanting
Tag us in your bouquet and garden photos—we love seeing your Ammi in action!

Fill your garden with the soft lace of Ammi. You'll be amazed how much beauty can come from something so delicate.

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Learn About : SNAPDRAGONS

APRIL GARDENING TIPS

[PLANT PROFILE] LARKSPUR

April 7, 2025 Karen Logan

LARKSPUR

Delphinium consolida

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A Late Spring Spark

Why Hardy Annual Larkspur Deserves a Spot in Your Garden

There’s a certain kind of magic in plants that rely on the cold to gift us beauty just as the world is warming again. Hardy annual larkspur (Delphinium consolida) is one of those graceful gifts. With its feathery foliage, towering spires, and an almost ethereal range of blues, pinks, purples, and whites, larkspur is a must-have for anyone who loves cut flowers or wants to bring a touch of cottage garden charm to their late spring landscape.

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An Annual That

Can Handle A Chill

Unlike many annuals that must wait until after the last frost, larkspur thrives in the early season—it actually needs a cold period to break seed dormancy. As part of Andrew Wiley’s Hardy Annual Project, larkspur was sown in December to encourage strong root development, and those plants are now ready to be transplanted into your garden.

Once established, larkspur sends up strong, straight stems topped with layered blooms that almost look too delicate to be real. But don’t be fooled—these plants are workhorses. Hardy to around 20°, they’ll shrug off chilly spring nights while other flowers are still in their seed trays.

Larkspur QIS Dark Blue with Papaver ‘Amazing Grey’

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Elegance

in the Garden

Hardy annual larkspur is one of those old-soul flowers that rewards a little planning with a lot of beauty. They’re a graceful, low-fuss way to add vertical interest and early color. It thrives in garden beds, wildflower meadows and acts as a natural pollinator magnet. In a world that sometimes feels rushed, there’s something satisfying about planting a flower that asks you to think ahead and to trust the process.

And did we mention color? While larkspur’s deep indigo blues are the most iconic, they also come in pastels.

Antirrhinum Potomac Deep Orange and Larkspur QIS Dark Blue

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A Cut Flower Favorite

For cut flower lovers, larkspur is ideal. The blooms are long-lasting in the vase, and the more you cut, the more the plant gives. Harvest when just a few blossoms at the base of the stem have opened and the rest are still in bud—this way, you get the full bloom show indoors. Some growers swear by a quick dip in boiling water to extend vase life even further.

If you’re dreaming of armfuls of early summer blooms, larkspur might just be your next garden obsession.

They pair beautifully with peonies, sweet peas, bachelor’s buttons, and early roses.

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Growing Tips

🌿 Cool-Season Lovers: Larkspur thrives in cool weather. Plant in early spring best results.

🌿 Support Matters: Provide stakes or netting to keep tall stems upright, especially in breezy spots.

🌿 Harvest at the Right Time: For the longest vase life, cut stems when only the lower third of the blooms have opened—they’ll continue to open from bottom to top.

🌿 Winter-Sown for Summer Beauty: At Vineyard Gardens, our December-sown larkspur are ready to plant now. Early winter sowing helps develop strong roots, setting the stage for full, vibrant summer blooms

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Larkspur

Varieties Available

A member of the Delphinium family, larkspur offers tall, elegant spires of blooms that not only bring drama to any bouquet but will also readily reseed in a sunny garden.