Scabiosa atropurpurea This variety of pincushion flower has lovely dark blooms with contrasting lavender anthers. The long, straight stems lend to its popularity among florists. The flowers can be used fresh or dried for natural dyeing, producing blueish-green through purple and pink dyes depending on mordant choice and acidity of dye bath. It’s also great for bundle dyeing or hapazome!

HARVEST

Prolific bloomers. As with all cut flowers, be sure to cut deeply into the plant between 2 sets of leaves, cutting stems at least 18” long. Deep cuts signal the plants to produce MORE flowers to replace the one you just cut.

When you make deep cuts, you will end up with a stem with multiple blooms. This is the easiest and most efficient way to harvest Scabiosa and keep the patch manageable. You may be tempted to cut single blooms, but things will get out of hand quickly if you don’t make deep cuts. 

GROWING

Full Sun

Grows 24-36 inches tall.

Space 8-12 inches apart

NOTES

Will fall over without some support like netting. Pinch to 8” when starting out.