Linum grandiflorum Bright Eyes - Annual Flowering Flax Seeds

Linum grandiflorum or flowering flax 'Bright Eyes' is a very easy-to-grow annual. This variety features large ivory white flowers with a contrasting brownish purple eye over delicate, silver-green foliage. It blooms all summer long, perfect for sunny borders, flower beds and rock gardens. Direct sow in well-drained and light soil.

Linum Grandiflorum is a hardy annual that belongs to the Linaceae family, native to North Africa. It germinates, grow, flowers and sets seed before the heat of summer sets in. In more humid climates, it blooms all summer long, tirelessly. 'Bright Eyes' forms a small, narrow clump of branched stems, quickly reaching 30 cm in height and 15 to 20 cm in width. Its leaves are small, thin and lanceolate, silver-green colour in colour. The flowers are flat and cup-shaped, measuring 3 to 4 cm in diameter; they are made up of 5 ivory white petals with a satin-like sheen, highlighted with a broad, brownish-red central halo. Although each flower only lasts one day, they are continually renewed from early summer to autumn. This plant will self-seed easily in light soil, however not always true to type.

Flowering flax is a sun-loving plant that is very resistant to drought. The seeds can be scattered directly in sunny flower beds or rock gardens, creating lovely informal combinations with Love-in-a-mist, Amni visnaga, Californian poppies, and other perennials such as Veronica hastata, Verbena bonariensis, and Centranthus ruber. It also mixes well with ornamental grasses such as Stipa pennata or Muhlenbergia capillaris.