The cornflower inspires as a distinctive summer flower with a fantastic long-distance effect. Thanks to its natural grace, the bright blue cyan is a welcome guest in country house gardens and natural flower beds. How you can skilfully cultivate the romantic beauty of flowers in your green realm is no longer hidden from you here. The following answers to frequently asked questions show how it works.

The cornflower is a meadow plant native to Germany with historical significance

Plant cornflower properly

Plant a cyanide that you have grown on the windowsill or bought in a garden center in a sunny, warm location from mid/end of April. To create a picturesque appearance, we recommend an arrangement in small tuffs with 5-10 young plants. For this purpose, dig small planting pits at a distance of 20 cm, which are half the diameter of the root ball. Instead of compost or other fertilizer, add some sand or fine chippings (€46.95) to the excavation if the consistency of the garden soil seems too hard. Plant a potted cornflower in each hole and fill in the excavation to just below the first pair of leaves. Water regularly on the day of planting and thereafter until the cyanide is established.

care tips

In terms of easy care, the cyanide is undoubtedly one of the best in its class among summer flowers. Here's how to do it right:

  • Water sparingly without watering the flower
  • Fertilizing is not necessary
  • Rinse faded flowers regularly
  • Protect long-stemmed varieties from windthrow with a support stick

If you leave a few withered cornflowers in the bed in late summer, they will take care of the propagation by self-sowing. Next spring, the next generation of these atmospheric summer flowers will appear - as if by magic.

Which location is suitable?

In a warm, full sun, the cornflower shows in all its colorful splendor why it is considered a symbol of midsummer blossom beauty. A spot in light shade is tolerated, but results in less profuse flowering. While the compact wild species Centaurea cyanus also knows how to get along with windy locations, the long-stemmed cyan hybrids prefer a wind and rain-protected location.
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The right planting distance

The slender shape of a cyan requires a planting distance of 15-20 cm in the row. This value probably applies to the long-stemmed as well as to the compact varieties. A row spacing of 20 cm is also a good idea. You only reduce the value by 5 cm under the special conditions in the balcony box in order to create the dense and lush appearance.

What soil does the plant need?

The cornflower finds ideal conditions in lean, sandy-loamy and well-drained soil. So choose a place in the rock garden, the gravel bed or in the natural wild perennial bed. For firm, loamy-clayey soil, you can easily adapt it to the requirements of a Zyane by working in sand, fine grit or gravel. Too dry soil is optimized with the help of compost, leaf soil or bark humus. For cultivation in pots, this means that a rather lean substrate makes sense, such as standard or pricking soil.

What is the best planting time?

Although the seeds of a cyanide are frost-resistant, this is not the case for young plants that have been brought forward. The planting season for the delicate summer flowers only begins when there is no longer any fear of ground frost. Experience has shown that a date from the beginning/middle of May can be considered, but not without first consulting the weather forecast.

When is flowering time?

In April, the blue blossoms of the wild cornflower get us in the mood for a long flowering period that lasts until October. In May and June, the grafted hybrids follow the good example and also develop their colourful, often double flowers. Since a single flower will not last over this long period, please cut off withered stems. Beneath it, the next buds are already waiting to open.
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Cut the cornflower correctly

If you consistently cut off withered flower stalks, the flowering period will be extended well into autumn. If you don't want to chase after every single faded cyano, cut off the entire tuff down to the basal leaves at the end of the first flowering period. This is followed by a lush second bloom, the pruning of which motivates a vital plant to a third round of flowering.

Water the cornflower

A moderate water supply accommodates a cyane's desires. In concrete terms, this means that you only water the flower when the soil has dried well. If a rain shower doesn't forestall you, pour the water from the jug spout directly onto the root disc. The watering can is used more often for a cornflower in a pot, as the substrate dries out quickly in a sunny location. A short thumb test in the morning ensures that there is actually a need for watering. Please pour out a coaster after a quarter of an hour at the latest, so that no waterlogging develops.

Fertilize the cornflower properly

The undemanding cyane is not fertilized over the course of its one-year lifespan. This also applies to cornflowers in pots or flower boxes (€16.99), since commercially available substrates are usually sufficiently pre-fertilized. The only exception is very poor, stony soil. Here in June you can awaken the floral spirit with a portion of compost and horn shavings (€32.93).

Diseases

Under the influence of warm and humid weather, a cyane can be affected by powdery mildew. The unmistakable symptom of this widespread fungal infection is white coating on the upper and lower sides of the leaves. With a view to the easy sowing and rapid germination of the seeds, extensive control measures make little sense. Dig out the diseased cornflowers and sow them again without further ado. As a preventative measure, we recommend that you refrain from overhead irrigation as part of the water supply.

hibernate

A cyane thrives as a winter annual or summer annual flower. Cornflowers sown in autumn overwinter as fruits or young plants in the bed without any special precautions having to be taken. After flowering and seed formation, they die, regardless of whether they were sown in autumn or spring.

Propagating cornflower

The simplest method of propagating cornflowers is by sowing. Since the seeds - in contrast to the flowers - are hardy, there is nothing to be said against direct sowing in April/May or in August/September. To do this, plant a finely crumbly seedbed in sandy, lean soil in a sunny, warm location. Sow the seeds at a row spacing of 20 cm and then sift them 0.5 cm deep with sand or vermiculite. Moistened with a fine shower and protected with a close-meshed net, germination progresses quickly. At 12-18 degrees Celsius, the first cotyledons peep out after 1-2 weeks. If the bed is very narrow, separate the strongest seedlings at a distance of 15-20 cm as soon as they have at least 2 pairs of leaves.

Cornflower in the pot

In the pot and window box, the intensely glowing cornflowers catch the eye from afar. As a substrate, we recommend potting soil thinned with sand, commercially available standard soil or the most suitable pricking soil. Only fill the substrate into the container after placing a piece of pottery over each water drain for drainage. Repot the young plants to plant them 10-12 cm apart. After you have pressed the soil down, pour in a good sip of water. From now on, caring for a cyane will cause you little trouble. Water moderately where rain does not reach the soil. Please cut out wilted flowers regularly so that the next buds find their way into the sunlight. The modest flower does not require an additional supply of nutrients, since the soil is already pre-fertilized.

Is cornflower poisonous?

Something that shines so intensely in the garden, like a cyan, should generally be treated with caution. In this case, we can of course give the all-clear. The cornflower owes its brilliant blue color to a completely harmless ingredient cyanidin, which is also responsible for the striking coloring in red cabbage or blackberries, for example. The pretty, fluffy flowers are even edible. In the light summer kitchen, creative cooks use the blossoms as a decoration for cold and warm dishes.
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trivia

In search of the origin of their various names, embark on a journey into the distant past. The botanical name Centaurea cyanus most likely refers to a centaur from Greek mythology. One of these human-horse hybrids was named Chiron. This half-brother of Zeus knew medicine and used the cornflower to heal a wound on the foot of the legendary Achilles. Furthermore, Ceres, the goddess of the harvest, wore a cornflower in her hair.

Beautiful varieties

  • Red Lola: The Zyane impresses with red, lavishly filled flowers and a long flowering period from May to September; 80-90cm
  • Black Beauty: A rare Centaurea cyanus with dramatic black double flowers from June; 70-80cm
  • Snowman: White flowering cornflower that harmonises wonderfully with its colored counterparts; 70-100cm
  • Blue Double: A beautiful variant of the blue wild species that boasts semi-double flowers; 50-70cm
  • Blauer Junge: Premium variety, with conspicuous, deep blue and double flower heads; 50-60cm
  • Red Boy: The deep red counterpart to the Blue Boy for intensive color accents in the summer garden; 70-80cm
  • Classic Fantastic: An enchanting mixture in every imaginable shade of blue, filled and unfilled; 50-100cm

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