"Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away?"

Author: Unknown

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Bachelor Buttons

    I sowed these Bachelor Buttons ( Centaurea montana) in early spring. I just have a small clump, but they are very pretty, delicate flowers. I especially love the the bluish purple colored one. 
I didnt notice the little bug on the flower until after I loaded the photo on to my computer. Its iridescent wings are beautiful. 



My plant either got beat down by some of the hard rains we have or is just a little floppy. But I think in a couple of weeks I will prune it back hard to make it a little more compact. This little beauty is supposed to re-seed. I have my fingers crossed, because i certainly wouldnt mind more of the bluish ones.
Bachelor Buttons prefer full sun to partial shade, and normal, to sandy, or clay soil. Mine is in partial shade and mostly clay soil, and seems pretty healthy looking.It is a fast grower. It only gets to a height of about 12-23", and the flowers are only about an inch and a quarter across and appear in early spring thru mid summer.It is deer and rabbit resistant. Dead heading will encourage repeat blooming.


5 comments:

  1. I grow these in all colors and wouldn't be without them. I deadhead quite a few since I have so many and they will rebloom. I leave a few standing for reseeding.

    Mine are all in full sun and I've not had a problem with them falling over unless we had torrential rains.

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  2. Thanks Cameron. We have had quite a bit of heay rains, so hopefully thats it.

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  3. I was thinking about bachelor buttons recently. i have planted them before, and I loved them. Your post has reminded me to plant them next year - it's too late for this year, unless they might grow in the fall?

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  4. What you need to do is find out how many days to bloom, then figure out if they have enough time before frost in your zone to bloom.

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  5. It's funny that when you take a picture you see things that you didn't see before. That is pretty neat!

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