Pincushion Flower
(Mourning-Bride, Sweet Scabious)
Scabiosa atropurpurea (Scabiosa grandiflora). DIPSACACEAE.
Planting and Growing Pincushion Flower
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow pincushion flower in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of pincushion flower
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for pincushion flower
- Season of bloom and planting time for pincushion flower
- When, how deep, and where to plant pincushion flower
- How to plant pincushion flower
- Watering, fertilizing, care, and pests or diseases of pincushion flower
- Landscape and container uses of pincushion flower
- Comments about pincushion flower and its features
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Growing Pincushion Flower
Several cultivars of erect, narrow annual herbs, to 2 ft. (60 cm) tall and 1 ft. (30 cm) wide. Opposite, smooth, green, nearly fernlike, finely cut or lobed leaves, 2–3 in. (50–75 mm) long.
Common cultivars include Scabiosa atropurpurea ‘Butterfly Blue’, ‘Giant Imperial’, ‘Grandiflora’, ‘Nana’, ‘Paper Moon’, ‘Ping Pong’, and ‘Salmon Queen’.
See also Perennial Pincushion Flower (Scabiosa caucasica).
Dwarf cultivars available.
Planting and Care Guide
Blooms
Showy, solitary, pink, light to deep purple, rose, white flowers, to 2 in. (50 mm) wide, with irregular, ruffled, tubular or flat petals tucked around raised, cushionlike centers, in summer–autumn.
Best Climates
Self-seeding, zones 4–11.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist to damp, well-drained loam. Fertility: Rich–average. 7.0–8.0 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Early spring in full sun, 1 ft. (30 cm) apart, when soil is workable.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep moist until established; drought tolerant thereafter. Fertilize every 2 months. Deadhead spent flowers to prolong bloom. Propagate by seed.
About This Plant
Good choice for backgrounds, beds, borders, massed plantings in cottage, formal, meadow, rock gardens. Good for cutting, drying. Pest and disease resistant.