Morning bride, Pincushion flower
Scabiosa caucasica is a popular, clump forming, herbaceous perennial so often found in herbaceous borders in traditional cottage gardens in English villages. It is a long flowering species which goes on flowering for most of the summer months.
It dislikes being waterlogged in the winter months and likes to be grown in full sun in well drained soil. These plants need deadheading to prolong flowering, but they can also become old and tired in a border quite quickly. Then they will diminish in size and ‘go back’ on themselves. The solution, when this eventually occurs, is to lift and divide the plants and put them back in place once compost, dung, or leaf mould has been added to the soil to give them a boost.
S. caucasica ‘Chile Black’ has very attractive flowering spikes of deep maroon flowers in profusion even as a young plant. It is a popular seller at the Hampton Court flower show.
C. caucasica var. alba is an identical white flowered form.
