Linaria maroccana Licilia Peach

Linaria maroccana 'Licilia Peach' is a variety of Moroccan toadflax whose flowers blend peach-yellow, orange, and brick red. This small annual plant possesses a singular charm, with its flowering of unusual lightness and vivacity. It grows very quickly and is capable of flowering 6 weeks after sowing. Its flowers resemble those of snapdragons, but they are smaller, thinner, and long-spurred, which gives them a delicate appearance. This flowering continues throughout the summer in flower beds. It likes the sun and well-drained soil. Moroccan toadflax is also beautiful in pots and creates bouquets full of poetry.

Linaria maroccana is an annual herbaceous plant of the Plantaginaceae family. It is native to Morocco but has naturalised in the southeastern United States, especially in California. This species enjoys sun, heat, and rocky or sandy soils that are well-drained.

The 'Licilia Peach' cultivar is a particularly floriferous and easy-to-grow horticultural hybrid. The plant forms a clump measuring 50cm (20in) in height and 20cm (8in) in width in a matter of weeks, consisting of ramified stems bearing very thin green leaves, 3 to 4cm (1 to 2in) long. In cool climates, flowering occurs from June to September, sometimes earlier if sowing was done under heated shelter as early as March. In mild climates, seedlings grow in autumn and flower as early as April, with flowering being halted by summer drought. Like Nigella damascena, this toadflax modifies its vegetative cycle according to the climate. The small two-lipped flowers are tightly packed on long terminal spikes. They are extremely popular with pollinating insects. Annual toadflaxes readily self-sow in the garden, in light soil, but not always faithfully in relation to the mother plant.

Much less known and used in our gardens than Love-in-a-Mist, cosmos, or even their cousins the snapdragons, Moroccan toadflaxes are nonetheless just as easy to cultivate, and their vaporous flowering with various colours is enchanting. These plants are accessible to all gardeners. They are easy to plant in borders, flower beds, or rockeries. 'Licilia Peach' is perfect mixed with other varieties from the Licilia series, such as 'Azure' or 'Violet', or those from the 'Northern Light' series, whose flowers display a wide range of colours, but are never aggressive. They are ideal for wild gardens or cottage gardens, but also very useful for quickly filling flower pots. Their airy spikes are well highlighted when emerging among bushy perennials (fennel, 'Banana Cream' daisy, red hot pokers, summer asters), ground covers (wall bellflowers, aubrietas), or low-growing shrubs in subtle colours (Artemisia 'Powis Castle', Euphorbia characias, lavender).