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Description

Tough, yet beautiful flowers for your summer garden. Centaurea dealbata is the clump-forming cornflower, bursting into bloom in midsummer, producing masses of firework-like lavender-pink flowers with a fascinating thistle-like form.

They sit proudly on upright stems above a carpet of attractively cut foliage, boosting your borders.

What makes this plant extraordinary is its reliability. It's a true hardy perennial, so once planted it will return every year, growing stronger with each season. Plants form dense clumps that spread quickly, giving you ground cover that helps suppress weeds while offering a lush green backdrop to the flowers.

Bees and butterflies can't resist the nectar-rich blooms, so your garden won't just look amazing, it will also be alive with buzzing activity.

Supplied as a set of ten bare root plants, ready to plant.

Top Tips

Plant Centaurea dealbata in groups or drifts. The clumps quickly knit together, creating a natural sweep of lavender-pink flowers that butterflies and bees will flock to all summer long.

Care Information

On Arrival:

Open the package as soon as it arrives and check the roots.
Soak the bare roots in a bucket of cool, clean water for 2-3 hours to rehydrate them before planting.
If planting straight away isn't possible, wrap the roots in damp newspaper or keep them in moist compost in a cool, frost-free place for a few days.

Planting:

Choose a sunny spot with well-drained soil. Centaurea dealbata is hardy and adaptable but dislikes waterlogged ground.
Prepare the soil by digging in some garden compost or well-rotted manure. This helps the plants settle quickly and boosts growth.
Dig a hole wide enough to spread the roots out naturally. Position the crown (where the shoots meet the roots) level with the soil surface.
Backfill, firm gently, and water well. Leave about 45-60cm between plants so they have space to form their clumps.

Aftercare:

Water thoroughly after planting and keep the soil moist while the plants establish in their first season.
Once established, they're quite drought tolerant but will benefit from a deep soak during prolonged dry spells.
In spring, apply a general-purpose balanced fertiliser to encourage strong leafy growth and lots of flowers.
Deadhead regularly through summer to encourage more flowers and to keep plants looking tidy.
In autumn, once the flowering has finished, cut stems back to the base.
Apply a mulch of compost around the crown to conserve moisture, enrich the soil and protect roots over winter.

Delivery Information

Our experienced team at the nursery will always carefully package and send your plants nursery fresh in the perfect condition to thrive once you receive and plant them. Although most plants are extremely tough and will not be affected by all but the most extreme of weather conditions, we always avoid dispatching the most perishable plants if extreme frosts or heat is forecast. We also avoid dispatching orders over Bank Holiday weekends.

Please allow us 3-5 working days to dispatch your order. If you have ordered a 'pre-order' item, these will be sent out as soon as possible after the quoted dispatch date and we generally ship your entire order with any pre-ordered items. Once your order has been dispatched, we will send you an email with details on how you can track it.

We send most of our orders via a fully tracked courier service with Yodel. We will send you a tracking link as soon as your order has been dispatched. To avoid perishable items being stuck at depots and deteriorating, we will not require a signature on delivery, and we ask out couriers to leave your item in a safe place ad your delivery address.

*Please note, once your item has been delivered, we cannot be held responsible for loss or theft from your delivery address. If you have delivery instruction and require our courier to leave your item in a specific place, please let us know - there is an option to leave a message for the courier at the checkout.

For smaller and single-item orders, we may send these via the post with Royal Mail - Tracking will not be available for orders sent via this method.

**Please note, we cannot guarantee delivery on a certain day or time. Delivery to outlying postcode areas may take 1-2 days longer, dependent on your location.

For all orders, a small delivery fee of £4.99 will be charged or spend over £49.99 for FREE Delivery!

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