Erysimum x cheiri Mix

The highly diverse common Wallflower, also known as Erysimum or Cheiranthus cheiri, reaches a height of 60 cm (24in) and produces numerous flowers with a delightful fragrance, arranged in clusters at the top of well-branched stems. The plants produce beautiful spikes of flowers in sunset tones, varying greatly depending on the plants, in yellow, brown, ivory, dark red or orange. The biennial Wallflower brightens up sunny borders, rockeries or slopes, as well as pots on balconies or terraces and vases in the house. It flowers for several weeks in the sun, in well-drained soil, even poor and chalky soil.

The Erysimum cheiri, also known as Cheiranthus cheiri, has acquired different evocative local names over the centuries and in different regions: it is sometimes called yellow wallflower, ravenelle, vélar or yellow violier, because it displays yellow flowers with a strong clove scent, which is more intense in hot weather. It is a plant of the crucifer or Brassicaceae family, native to southern Europe, well adapted to dry and chalky soils. This short-lived perennial plant is most often grown as a biennial or annual in cool climates.

This Highly Diverse selection brings together rather tall varieties, measuring about 60 cm (24in) in height when in flower, with a spread of about 40 cm (16in). The plants quickly form small bushy clumps, with woody bases, adorned with small lanceolate leaves, sword-shaped, green and satin-like in appearance. This foliage persists throughout winter. The flowering begins in April and continues until the start of summer. In mild climates, and provided it is pruned short at the end of the season, this wallflower will show its perennial (short-lived) nature and even flower in winter. The flowers, with 4 petals, measuring 3 to 4 cm (1 to 2in) wide, are pleasantly fragrant and arranged in racemes at the top of leafy stems. Uni- or bicoloured, they adopt different shades of cream, yellow, apricot, salmon, mahogany, purple or violet. They are highly visited by pollinating insects that find one of the first nectars of spring at the bottom of their corollas. Spontaneous sowings are not uncommon in light soil.

Appreciated in gardens for their ease of cultivation and tendency to self-seed in the most unlikely places, abandoned by all other plants, the wallflower and its cultivars are excellent rockery plants that thrive even in somewhat inhospitable soils, and above walls. These plants also work wonders as border plants, alongside Love-in-a-Mist, California Poppies, Evening Primroses, Perennial Flax, or in a mixed border with taller plants such as Purple Toadflax, Mulleins or Gauras, which are just as undemanding. The common Wallflower can also be grown in pots on the terrace, balcony or near an entrance, in order to fully enjoy its generous flowering. Remember to water your pots regularly and provide them with flowering plant fertiliser.