Centaurea montana Sulphurea

Centaurea montana 'Sulphurea' is a lovely form with pale yellow flowers of the perennial cornflower that needs no introduction. Equally robust, this plant forms beautiful clumps of grey-green and woolly foliage that are adorned with charming feathery yellow flower heads from May to August. The mountain cornflower is hardy and easy to grow.  Perfect in large countryside borders or in a not too arid rockery. 

Native to the mountains of Europe, Centaurea montana is a herbaceous perennial plant of the Asteraceae family that develops from trailing rhizomes. This medicinal and ornamental plant has been cultivated in gardens for a long time.  The 'Sulphurea' form, from which it originates, has identical deciduous foliage, pubescent, giving it a woolly appearance, especially on the underside of the leaves. It forms spreading clumps, 40 cm (16in) tall when in bloom, 20 cm (8in) for the foliage, and 30 cm (12in) wide, or even much wider with age, as it spreads through its trailing rhizomes. Its leaves are 5 to 6 cm (2in) long, lanceolate in shape, and their colour is a green tinged with grey. Flowering takes place from spring to summer, for 2 to 3 months, depending on the regions. The floral bud is very decorative, an involucre composed of tight bracts, it looks a bit like a small artichoke. The uniqueness of this selection lies in the pale yellow colour of the flowers, borne on stiff stems of 40 cm (16in). These have large heads, 5 cm (2in) in diameter, with a centre that is almost white streaked with black, surrounded by longer petals, tapered and cut at their ends, which are pale yellow. It is a nectar plant producing high calorie pollen, highly appreciated by pollinating insects, particularly bumblebees.

TThe perennial cornflower needs no introduction, as it is an excellent and adaptable perennial plant with robust qualities, whose blue flowers have adorned many gardens for centuries. It grows everywhere, in heavy or light soils and in sun or shade.  Coming back into fashion, cornflowers are returning with infinitely refined new colours.  'Sulphurea' pairs wonderfully with the blue flowers of the typical species or even with the unbelievable blue of wild chicory. It can also be accompanied by small grasses like Stipa or golden-leaved Carex. It will find its place in a rockery, in borders, along a pathway or in short grass meadow, and can be used to create beautiful country-style bouquets, or as dried flower heads which remain decorative for a long time.