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Post by pattyp on Jun 19, 2009 14:38:30 GMT -5
Inspired by Telsing's post about her love for Orach, I thought I would share my love for Centaurea cyanus (Cornflowers). I have a small patch of Cornflowers that at 38 inches tall have by far surpassed their predicted height of 18-24 inches. They are just starting to bloom and are covered with ladybugs. In this picture, you can see one in the foreground and another fuzzy spot of red in the background. I took several more pictures of my newest friends (including a photo showing two copulating), but they were all out of focus. However, I did take one of a bee foraging for nectar that turned out beautifully: I had read that Cornflowers were good for attracting beneficial insects, like lacewings, ladybugs, hoverflies, parasitic mini-wasps, bees and butterflies, but I never imagined that the results would be so evident. I planted them specifically for this purpose and can't say enough about the results, so far. I guess I can check two of the aforementioned species off the list and will keep searching for the remaining insects. Thanks for letting me gush
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Post by grungy on Jun 19, 2009 15:27:14 GMT -5
OO-o-o-o! beautiful pics. Thank you.
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Post by plantsnobin on Jun 19, 2009 15:30:07 GMT -5
Don't you just love those blues?
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jun 19, 2009 17:15:59 GMT -5
Bee balm would be lovely with your corn flowers and to the same purpose!
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Post by bunkie on Jun 20, 2009 9:57:48 GMT -5
great pics pattyp! we love our Cornflowers too, but we call them Batchelor Buttons. are they one and the same?
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Post by pattyp on Jun 20, 2009 12:10:25 GMT -5
Hi bunkie. Yes - Cornflowers and Bachelor's buttons are one and the same.
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Post by bunkie on Jun 22, 2009 10:45:25 GMT -5
i thought so! you know pattyp, as many seeds as i save from the plants every year, they reseed themselves here every year.
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Post by flowerpower on Jun 23, 2009 5:33:12 GMT -5
Bunkie, you don't have the perennial cornflower (Centaurea Montana)? There is also a perennial yellow type called Yellow Knapweed , Giant Knapweed or Armenian Basket Flower (C. Macrocephala). I like the yellow one. It looks really nice once it forms a small clump of plants.
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Post by Penny on Jun 23, 2009 7:59:30 GMT -5
Oh those are so pretty, thanks.
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Post by bunkie on Jun 23, 2009 8:52:32 GMT -5
Bunkie, you don't have the perennial cornflower (Centaurea Montana)? There is also a perennial yellow type called Yellow Knapweed , Giant Knapweed or Armenian Basket Flower (C. Macrocephala). I like the yellow one. It looks really nice once it forms a small clump of plants. no i don't pattyp. never heard of the perennial...but the name scares me! we have a very invasive knoxious weed here called Knapweed. i don't have it's latin name right now, but will look it up. it doesn't look at all like a cornflower. i'm going to have to check out the perennials you listed. thanks!
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Post by ottawagardener on Jun 26, 2009 9:39:02 GMT -5
Those are great pictures. I planted some cornflower aka bachelor's button in the edging bed of my veggie patch to act as beneficial attractors. Glad to hear that it works.
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Post by pattyp on Jul 21, 2009 12:22:30 GMT -5
Just for fun, I took a photo of the cornflowers next to a yardstick (being held by my grandma - she's the best! to document their height. I was expecting them to only be about 18 to 24 inches tall, but these are over three feet high: At first, I was afraid that I had too much nitrogen in the soil, resulting in a lot of foliage, but no blooms. But now I have an enormous numbers of flowers, too. I'm wondering if the seed came from a particularly vigorous strain or if my environment was well suited to growing Bachelor's buttons.
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Post by plantsnobin on Jul 21, 2009 18:52:23 GMT -5
When I had them, they would get pretty tall. They breed most flowers now to be shorter for smaller gardens, but if you let things self seed they will tend to revert to what nature intended. Cornflowers are one of the first plants I bought when I started my first flower garden. We had an area where a 24ft round pool had been. I tilled that up and started planting. I bought a six pack of cornflowers (bachelor buttons to me), and from those six plants I ended up with tons. Over the years I lost them when I started planting mostly perennials, but I still think you just can't beat that blue.
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Post by pattyp on Jul 22, 2009 12:33:46 GMT -5
If you are tempted to grow them again, I would be happy to send you some seeds from my monsters Patty
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Post by Penny on Jul 22, 2009 12:39:22 GMT -5
Those are gorgeous, i didnt realize that they got that tall either.
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