red valarian

AKA centranthus i think! I had one a few years ago from a mates garden in Devon where it is almost a weed as it grows everywhere. I did have a pink and white version but now just have the pink (red) version. I love this plant but my husband thinks its a weed. It self seeded so much last year I dug loads up and transplanted them elsewhere but it does seem to need staking. Whats the best wau to do this does anyone know. I found that if i just left them they sort of spread out a bit before they sprouted and flopped all over the place.

 

A lot of people class this as a weed but if it was why would well known seed merchants sell it(T&M and others). I believe it was supposed to have been brought here by the Romans as a herb but is naturalised everywhere and like Buddleia grow on and out of walls and therefore looks like a weed to some. There are some good cultivars of this plant now and maybe improved on the floppy roadside ones.

 

Lovely plant - and flowers for such a long time, and useful too. I have mine under a tree in full sun where it is very dry and nothing much else will grow.

I don't bother to stake. Suggestions are 1) Plant them close together so they hold each other up. or 2) Some time before they are ready to flower, cut them back by half. When they regrow, they will be shorter and not need staking. This is an old technique that you can use for all sorts of perennials. or 3) At an early stage put "pea sticks" or even chicken wire amongst them and let them grow through. or 4) Hammer stakes into the ground leaving two foot or so above ground. Then staple chicken wire to the top so that the chicken wire is held horizontally two foot above the ground. And let the plants grow through. This is how many of the big and famous gardens do it for all sorts of plants - but it is a bit over the top in a small garden.

Keep some of the centranthus seedlings - it is said to be a short lived plant - it flowers itself to death. Mind you, mine look fine and are in their fourth year. They flowered for 24 weeks in 2004 and 17 weeks in 2005. And you know that if you cut the plants back when they stop flowering in early Julyish, you should get a second crop of flowers within a month.

 

strongylodon - I am not sure the sold varieties are any differant from the wild. I know the owner of very good nursery near me, who sell rare and unusual perennials. He told me he wanted some purple ones, and saw a very good purple by the roadside not far from him. So he took some seed, and now sells it.

 

How do you collect the seeds?

 

it may be a weed, but it costs �£5.45 in Crocus!! ( and P+P on top!)

 

I have never taken seed from it, but I am sure it is the same as taking seed from anything else. You have to wait till the flowers have finished and the seed pods have grown. If you always deadhead, you won't get any seed - so you must allow some flowers to develop naturally into seed pods, in the autumn. You then collect the seed pods, and you should find the seeds inside. The trick is in the timing. If you pick the seed pods too early they may still be green and not fully developed. And if you pick them too late the seed will have been scattered naturally. So you have to keep looking. You can take them a bit early and let them dry out. If you put the whole flower head and seed pods into a paper bag, then as the pods dry out they will scatter the seed, which will be caught in the bag. But do not use plastic. This will not allow the moisture to escape and the contents could rot.

You should try to seperate the seeds from the chaff (bits of dried pod and plant). The reason is that the seeds should keep and when they get damp on sowing they will germinate. But when the chaff gets damp it rots. keep the seed in a cool dry place. In a sealed container in the fridge is the best place.

It is very easy to do, and you get that wonderful feeling of getting something for nothing!

 

did it with teasels last year - nothing to beat the feeling when they grow! Something for nowt is great!

 

great! well I will try and remember to look out for them later in the year and have a go and see what happens. I like free things