Trachelium Caeruleum 'Black Knight'

Description

This spectacular flower opens large, dense, cloudy sprays of thousands of small, fragrant, intensely violet flowers, which appear in early summer and are magnets for bees. Unlike the commonly available green variety, this new and exceptional form has dark foliage with purple veins. Although a slightly half hardy perennial from the Mediterranean, it may easily be grown as an annual if sown early, and, as we discovered this summer in our gardens in Devon, in a warm spot will produce endless queries of "What is that amazing thing"!

Sowing Advice

For best results, sow seeds onto a good soil-based compost. Cover the seeds with fine grit or compost to approximately their own depth. They can be sown at any time, and although germination can be quicker if kept at 15 to 20 degrees C, we sow most seeds in an unheated greenhouse and wait for natural germination as many seeds wait for spring before emerging regardless of when they are sown. Spring sowing will obviously give them a full season of growth. In colder climates these plants do well if overwintered in small pots indoors and are planted out in spring after the last frosts.

Key Facts