Organic Wallflower Seeds

A perennial, non-winter-hardy plant, usually cultivated as a biennial for cutting, winter cutting, or as a potted plant, reaching 60–100 cm in height. Stems are branched, erect or ascending, woody at the base, covered with bifurcated hairs. Leaves are lanceolate, short-petioled, sharp, entire; upper leaves are sessile, sometimes finely toothed.  

Flowers are large, ranging from golden-yellow to orange-brown, with a sweet refreshing fragrance, gathered in terminal racemes. Sepals (4 in number) are linear-lanceolate, pubescent outside, velvety. Corolla is four-petaled. Petals up to 2 cm long, with a rounded or obovate limb abruptly narrowing into a long claw. Six stamens, four of them longer. Nectaries are located on the receptacle. Pistil with a superior bilocular ovary, covered with bifurcated hairs and a bifid stigma. Fruit is a four-edged flattened pod 5–7 cm long, with a persistent style. Seeds are small, rounded, light brown, about 3 mm long.  

Native to the Mediterranean. Hardy down to –18 °C. In temperate and northern regions usually grown as an annual.  

Growing conditions:  

Diseases and pests: susceptible to white rust, which deforms young shoots and produces pustules that release white spores. Prevent by avoiding waterlogging, not wetting foliage during irrigation, and avoiding excessive nitrogen. Destroy affected plants and treat the rest with horsetail infusion.  

Propagation: by seed sowing in spring or autumn. Sow outdoors in May–June. Optimal germination temperature is 16 °C. Seedlings appear in 7–14 days. Thin to 10–15 cm spacing. Flowers about 8 weeks after sowing. For earlier flowering, grow through seedlings.  

Uses: in flower beds, mixed borders. Dwarf varieties are suitable for containers and planters. This plant deserves a place near entrances or under windows to enjoy its fragrance.