Of all the garden plants which give high value for a small financial outlay, one of my favourites has to be Cerinthe major ‘Purpurascens’. For the price of a packet of seeds, you are unlikely ever to be without this plant as it readily self-sows, although not so much that it seems if its progeny are outstaying their welcome. How could they? With evergreen glaucous leaves and deep plum bracts, Cerinthe major ‘Purpurascens’ is a quiet low cost plant which attracts attention for its gentle beauty and high value to bees.
It grows in ordinary, well-drained soil in full sun, although I have found it seeds into gravel and flowers perfectly well there. At 30-45cm high, it makes a good ground cover plant, but it also looks wonderful with its bracts cascading gently over the side of a container.
Sow indoors between February and May and plant out after the last frost; although Cerinthe major ‘Purpurascens’ is quite accommodating and can also be sown outdoors and between September and October. It will flower all summer long – or at least it is supposed to, but we see flowers as early as March at Le Grys Farm.
Cerinthe major ‘Purpurascens’ can be cut for indoor arrangements as it lasts well if the stems are seared in boiling water for around 30 seconds. I prefer to leave the flowers on the plant though as they are such a valuable source of nectar. Sow now and within 12 weeks you and the bees should be enjoying blooms all summer long. Deadhead any faded flower stems, then as autumn approaches allow some flowers to go to seed and you could be enjoying this high value, low outlay plant in your garden for many years to come.
Sarah Shoesmith
Sarah Shoesmith is a garden designer with a passion for wildlife and conservation who is on a mission to grow crops beautifully. When she isn’t gardening, writing about gardens,designing gardens, visiting gardens or reading about gardens, she can be found eating chocolate and drinking coffee (probably in a garden).
Sarah has two blogs:
http://www.legrysfarm.blogspot.com
http://www.thegardeningshoe.blogspot.com
Terri works in the e-commerce marketing department assisting the busy web team. Terri manages our blog and social media pages here at Thompson & Morgan and is dedicated to providing useful advice to our gardeners. Terri is new to gardening and keen to develop her horticultural knowledge.
Hello.
I’m in plant zone 10a, SoCal. My Cerinthe major ‘Purpurascens’ has looked beautiful for months, loaded with flowers. Just this week died back. Going on year two and have yet to see a honeybee or hummingbird anywhere near it —– so that’s been a major (pun intended) disappointment.
Last year it reseeded itself just fine, which is wonderful.
I do love the look of the plant and flowers —– but what’s with no pollinators?
Yes normally Cerinthe attracts masses of bees. Unfortunately, insect populations are declining which is why it is so important that gardeners plant insect-friendly flowers such as these. You can find more wildlife and pollinator friendly plants on this link.
There are honeybees in my garden. Sometimes loads of them. They can’t get enough of my Echium ‘Pride of Madeira.” Honeywort, though? Pfft. They don’t even give it the time of day. I’ve sold Honeywort plants and seeds, and feel like I’m a fraud when I tell people the plants are a hummingbird and honeybee “magnet.”
For hummingbirds, if you’re in California, I do recommend highly the native Zauschneria californica var. mexicana/Native Fuchsia. It does really really well w/ little to no water (I never water mine; rainwater is all it gets). Hummingbirds fight over it.
Only drawback is that, once it is established, it is a plant that will take over, with smaller plants popping up all over the place.
Hello I have started seedlings from seed and it seems like one seed gave birth to two seedlings. Does that seem right? Anyway wondering if I should just get rid of one asap – they are about 1.5 inches tall at the moment and growing very close to each other. Thank you!
Hi Fiona,
I would leave the seedlings to grow together as pinching one out might harm the other – Cerinthe are very tough plants and the pair will grow up happily together. If it’s a major problem for you, I would leave them until they are ready to plant out & then remove the weaker stem.
Isent it too late to sow cerinthe now and do they need to be soaked for 12 hours?. I live in Scotland and we had snow last week so was very cold
Hi Pauline, thank you for your query, it is not too late to sow the cenrinthe as it is up until the end of May. I would not soak the seeds but I would give them a good drink when sowing, add plenty of good quality compost and sow where you want them to grow. I would also advise adding a bell cloche over them until they are able to withstand the cooler evenings in Scotland. I hope this helps but do come back if you need any further assistance. Kind regards, wendie
Hello, I planted a few stems of Cerinth last year and this year have a most bountiful border of them. I have one problem with this otherwise beautiful and accomodating plant. The leaves on the tall stems have turned yellow and brown, prematurely, I would say. It’s still blooming prolifically, but the plants look ‘over the hill’. Do you know what could cause this? They are in full sun to part shade, and I don’t see much difference between the two areas. I’ve been watering moderately.
Hi Jean, I have spoken to our horticulturalist who has responded: Its hard to tell without seeing a picture of the plants, but it its likely to do with unseasonal temperatures.
We’ve had some surprisingly hot and sunny days recently, so it could be sun scorch on the foliage, or the effect of repeated cold night temperatures followed by extreme day temperatures.
I’ve personally never managed to overwinter self sown autumn seedlings of cerinthe. They make it through whatever winter throws at them, put on some nice early spring growth but then get caught by a late frost (plants are too tall and straggly by then to protect them with fleece). I’m going to try again this year but will cut the growth down in late winter so the plants can be covered against sprin time temperature extremes. If I fail again, I’ll stick with spring sowings in future.
Hope this helps Jean, but do come back if you need any further assistance. Kind regards, wendie
Please can you advise on how to deadhead this plant. I grew mine from seed (very easy for a beginner like me). I love it as much as the bees and would like to keep it flowering for as long as possible. Not sure if I should cut back the whole stem or cut off individual flower heads. Thank You.
Hi Pauline, thank you for your post. The blooms tend to last for quite some time without any vigorous deadheadng. I would simply trim the plant lightly because cutting back to base would not leave an attractive plant. Hope that helps, Terri
Thanks for the suggestion. Must pick up a packet of seeds today.
You must!
Sow them now and you should be enjoying this wonderful plant all summer long.
hello
I have cerinthe growing in pots before planting out. Should the tips be pinched out?
thanks
Hi Chris,
Thank you for your comment. I would not worry about pinching them out. They are quite free flowering through the season. Hope this helps, Wendie
Wonderful plant, beautiful purple flower, fabulous self seeder. Great value I I love it,dehead it and it will keep on flowering
It is, Jen! Good advice about deadheading.
You’re right – cerinthe is really good value for money. And it’s so easy to save the big seeds too… just in case the plant doesn’t seed itself all over the garden!
The seeds are big! I’ve never had to save them, but it’s a good idea to save some just in case.
I hadn’t heard of this plant before, but it is quite pretty! A more unusual plant!
It is pretty! It doesn’t scream for attention, but people always notice it and ask about it.
Hi Sarah yes a magnificent plant I grew these in 2012 Just amazing . Mine grew to 4′ tall,with masses of delicate bells .They have clusters of purple bells with 10to14 on each . They open 2at a time and when they die 2more open.So flower for months.The leaves are a bluey green with shades of brown when the sun is on them. They self seed and I have had some growing since last November.Yes surprise for me also.Weathered all the bad weather. They have now filled the container . Some are in flower. Did win a prize for a picture of them. A garden must have.
Wow! 4′ tall! They must love you! Well done for winning a prize for the picture of them.
That has reminded me to look out for any Cerinthe seedlings as I grew these for the first time last year and let them go to seed. That’s a good idea to put some in a container so you cn see the flowers better. I am pleased you have highlighted a plant that the bees love too!
I hope they have seeded somewhere you want to see them. I now have a small group around the base of the containers I grew them in last year. I have left them because they look rather lovely there.
I’m all about helping the pollinators. This looks like it will be the perfect addition to my garden. Thanks for the great information Sarah!
I feel certain this plant won’t disappoint you or the bees.
Thank you Sarah, for a great suggestion. I am not familiar with this plant but when I heard the bees love it, I was hooked. The word ‘accommodating’ didn’t hurt either! And so pretty too, thanks!
It is a wonderful addition to the garden. I like to have a few annuals on hand to plug any gaps in the borders and Cerinthe major ‘Purpurascens’ is extremely useful for this as it looks good with such a variety of other garden plants.
Great timing and a reminder why we ought to be growing this gorgeous plant! Saw this in a friends garden last year and was smitten by its exotic looks!
It is astonishing how this plant can look at home in different styles of garden. I haven’t seen it planted in an exotic garden, but I can imagine that it would look great there.
Thank you Sarah, I’m always on the lookout for easy bee friendly plants and have a very sunny garden, so this should do nicely.
It will love your sunny garden!