Centaurea dealbata

Centaurea dealbata, also known as Persian cornflower, is a cousin of the cornflower, but it is taller and its flower heads are beautifully coloured in deep carmine-pink and highlighted with white in the centre. The plant forms a clump of greyish-green leaves with a white and woolly underside. It is a hardy perennial that looks stunning in borders and slightly wild flower beds. It grows easily in ordinary soils, even poor, occasionally dry and rocky ones. It is also a beautiful cut flower. 

Native to the mountains of the Caucasus and northern Iran, Centaurea dealbata is an herbaceous perennial plant of the Asteraceae family. This flowering plant reaches a height of 70 to 90cm (28 to 35in) and develops into an erect and dense clump, covered with beautiful dense foliage deeply cut into narrow, pinnate lobes. The slightly hairy foliage is light green with a touch of grey, and is almost silvery on the underside. From June to July, and sometimes again in late summer, inflorescences appear in flower heads resembling cornflowers, 4 to 5cm (2in) wide. These flower heads display a bright carmine-pink to lavender-pink hue, with a paler centre. The nectar-rich and honey-rich flowering attracts many pollinating insects. It is a long-lived perennial that can self-seed in light soil.

Of medium stature, Centaurea dealbata is particularly well suited to perennial borders. It forms patches of vibrant and remarkable colour that will blend well with catmints, globe thistles, ixias (corn lilies), and godetias. It will also look good in a meadow. In this setting, centaureas can be mixed with grasses, sainfoin, phacelia, borage, agrimony, corn marigolds, California poppies, cosmos, and Damask nigellas. The rule of thumb is that the poorer the soil, the more dazzling the effect. It will also be beautiful and perform well in a rock garden. It is an excellent cut flower, for both dried and fresh bouquets.

The name Centaurea comes from the centaur Chiron, who used the flowers of this plant to heal a gaping wound caused by an arrow dipped in the Hydra's blood. This plant now bears his name as the genus name. The specific epithet 'dealbata' is derived from the Latin verb 'dealbare', meaning "to become white", referring to the silver underside of its leaves.