Centaurea (Asteraceae) BSWJ15321

phrygia ssp. abbreviata

From one of our seed collections gathered from above the Sumela Valley eastern Turkey in 2017, on our drive to Batumi Botanical Gardens who were hosting us. Unmistakably a cornflower, only 50cm tall where it grew above the village of Hamsikoy at 1,300m. Forming clumps of narrow leaves and slender upright stems 80-100cm tall in our garden, only branching at their apexes, bearing pink-purple flowers speckled with dark purple rays, July to October. Easily grown in any type of drained fertile soil, best in full sun to part shade.