Cornflower Blue Ball

Expect masses of true cornflower-blue flowers from the seed of this charming, easy-to-please annual.

Delightful in borders and cottage garden settings, where it will attract butterflies and bees, the long-stemmed Blue Ball is also a splendid cut flower and was once widely grown commercially in East Anglia for this purpose. The blooms can also be dried if desired.

Cornflower is an easy-to-grow hardy annual that flowers the same year as sowing. Its seeds can be sown directly in the garden where it is to flower. Once a common sight in cornfields before the use of herbicides, it does well in full sun on well-drained soils, including those which are dry, of low fertility or chalky.

How to Sow and Grow

• Sow outdoors, March-May or August-October, where they are to flower, 0.5cm (¼”) deep, directly into finely-prepared, well-drained soil, which has already been watered.
• Seedlings usually appear in 14-28 days.
• Thin seedlings to 20cm (8″) apart.
• Water well until plants are established.
• For a continuous display, make sowings at two to three-week intervals.
• Sowings made in curves, rather than straight lines, often create a more pleasing effect.
• Flowers: June-September.
• Late summer and autumn sowings will flower the following year, often earlier than spring sowings.