Silene 'Ray's Golden Campion'

Description

Bright pink flowers open over a very long period, on contrasting dark stems, above compact clumps of shining, bright, lemon-gold foliage. After years of trying we have succeeded in breeding this absolutely new and stunning, easy-to-grow dianthus relative that comes almost completely true from seed. This lovely variant on a British native flower is dioicus, meaning both male and female plants will occur, the male plants flowering for a very long time all summer long. So male plants just make pollen and do not set seeds, whereas the female plants produce inflated seed pods full of seeds, so allow them to naturalise, especially into gravel, for a stunning display. A tiny percentage of the subsequent seedlings may be green too, so simply remove them whilst they are small.

Sowing Advice

Cover the seeds with fine grit or compost to approximately their own depth. We recommend germinating at 15 to 20 degrees C. They can be sown at any time, but spring sowing will obviously give them a full season of growth. Most plants will have golden foliage but a few will have plain green leaves and must be discarded. This species produces both male and female plants, male plants will set no seeds and will flower much longer!

Key Facts