Erysimum cheiri Spice Island - Perennial Wallflower

Erysimum cheiri 'Spice Island' is a remarkable hybrid wallflower variety in two ways. It is an extremely floriferous, fragrant plant, with a flowering that displays a lovely range of changing spicy colours. A short-lived perennial, it blooms unrestrainedly for several weeks, from spring to summer, in a joyful mix of red-orange, purple, pink, and mauve tones, animated by the constant fluttering of bees and butterflies. Fast-growing and undemanding, it will thrive in sunny borders, rockeries, or slopes, in pots on the balcony or terrace, or even above or in the gaps of a dry stone wall. 

Erysimum cheiri, also known as Cheiranthus cheiri, has acquired different evocative vernacular names over the centuries and regions: it is sometimes called yellow wallflower, ravenelle, vélar, or yellow violier, as it produces yellow flowers with a powerful clove scent, more intense in warm weather. It is a plant of the cruciferous or Brassicaceae family, native to southern Europe, well adapted to rather dry limestone soils. It has given rise to hardier and more perennial varieties through hybridization, among which the selection 'Spice Island'.

The 'Spice Island' wallflower is a medium-sized variety, reaching approximately 45-50cm (17.7 - 19.7in) in height when in bloom. It quickly forms upright, woody-based clumps, covered with lance-shaped, glossy green leaves. This foliage persists more or less in winter, depending on the intensity of the cold. The flowering begins in April and extends until summer. The dark purple flower buds open into 4-petalled flowers, whose colour evolves from red-orange to mauve, passing through different tones depending on the temperature and age of the flower. Measuring 3 to 4cm (1.6in) wide, they are slightly fragrant and arranged in racemes at the top of leafy stems. They are heavily visited by pollinating insects, who find one of the first spring nectars at the bottom of their corollas.

Appreciated in gardens for their ease of cultivation and their propensity to self-seed in the most unlikely places, often neglected by other plants, the ravenelle wallflower and its cultivars are excellent rockery plants, which thrive even in somewhat poor soils, and above walls. These plants also work wonders in border plantings, alongside snapdragons, Damask Nigellas, Californian Poppies, evening primroses, or perennial flax. In a taller plant bed, for example, you can associate them with toadflaxes, mulleins, or other Gauras, which are just as undemanding. You can also plant the 'Spice Island' wallflower in a pot on the terrace, balcony, or near an entrance to fully enjoy its generous flowering. Don't forget to water your pots regularly and provide them with flowering plant fertilizer.

Note: Please be aware that our young plants in mini-plugs are professional products intended for experienced gardeners: upon receipt, transplant them as soon as possible, either in pots, containers, or directly in a flower bed.