Spacing & sowing

Plant spacing

11.8 in

In-row spacing

11.8 in

Between rows

15 in

Square-foot density

Not suited to SFG

Growing

Type

Flower · Perennial

Botanical family

Mixed / other

Sunlight

Give it full sun.

Watering

Little water, but the drainage has to be sharp.

Feeding

Feed sparingly, if at all.

Frost tolerant

Yes

Flowering

April

Pruning

A light trim once the flowers are over.

Through the year

• Mar–Apr Spring Growth
• Apr–Jun Flowering
• Jun–Oct Growing
• Oct–Dec Leaf Fall
• Jan–Mar Leaf Fall

Companions

Tulips, Forget-me-nots, Aubrieta, Lavender

Pests & problems

• Cabbage white caterpillars Cabbage white caterpillars chewing the leaves
• Flea beetle Flea beetles peppering the young growth
• Clubroot Club root carried in soil that has grown brassicas

Garden allies

Beneficial predators that hunt this plant's pests — grow their favourite flowers nearby to recruit them. ★ companion plant

• Big-eyed bug Geocoris spp.
  Hunts Flea beetle

  A stubby 3 mm bug with enormous wrap-around eyes, working the soil surface and the low foliage for aphids, mites, thrips and insect eggs. It is the main natural check on chinch bugs in a lawn and it is killed outright by insecticide.

  Plant nearby CalendulaCloverCosmosGoldenrodSweet alyssum
• Damsel bug Nabidae
  Hunts Flea beetle

  A slender, mantis-armed bug that grabs aphids, small caterpillars, and thrips in low crops and meadowy edges. Leave a strip of unmown grasses and flowers for it to overwinter in.

  Plant nearby FennelSweet alyssumYarrow
• Garden birds Passeriformes
  Hunts Cabbage white caterpillars

  Both things are true: birds strip your currants and a brood of blue tits takes several thousand caterpillars out of one fruit tree in a fortnight. Net what you must and welcome them everywhere else — a nest box near the apples is worth more than a spray.

  Plant nearby EchinaceaElderberryEnglish hollyGoldenrodRudbeckiaSunflowerTeaselViburnum
• Parasitic wasps Braconidae & Trichogramma
  Hunts Cabbage white caterpillars

  Tiny, stingless wasps that lay eggs in or on caterpillars, aphids, and moth eggs — the white cocoons riding a hornworm are their calling card, so leave that caterpillar be. Umbel flowers with shallow nectar keep the adults fuelled.

  Plant nearby CilantroDillFennelLovageParsleySweet alyssumYarrow
• Spiders Araneae
  Hunts Flea beetle

  Webs, ambushes, and night patrols make spiders the garden’s steadiest generalist predators, taking whatever flies or crawls past. Mulch, ground cover, and undisturbed corners keep the population dense.

  Plant nearby LavenderThyme