Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Corn Cockle

I've discovered another charming old fashioned cottage garden flower! It is Agrostemma githago, with the common of Corn Cockle. It is a hardy, self-sowing annual, which grows to 3 ft. and blooms in early summer. (These have been done blooming now since our hot weather began in July, but I am just now getting to this post!)



This one is called Purple Queen. I love the look of the inside of the flowers....with their detailed "dotted" lines.




The white form has the fitting name of Ocean Pearl.




This lovely shade of light pink is Contessa Pale Pink.




The butterflies like Corn Cockle, too! Mine were interplanted with tall Cosmos and a bit of ferny foliage from the Cosmos was in front of the lens in this photo.....but I like the sort of ethereal effect that resulted.

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It was my first year for growing Corn Cockle, but it won't be the last.....another lovely Cottage Garden 'Keeper'!


14 comments:

Melissa said...

Oh,those are pretty!! Where did you order them from?

Connie said...

Me - Thank you for asking!...I meant to include this info in my post. The seeds are not widely available, but I found them in Johnny's Selected Seeds Catalog. I believe Thompson & Morgan also sells a seed mix of white and purple, but not the pale pink. I winter sowed the seed and then planted out.

kris said...

I've never seen these before - so pretty! Thanks for the info, I think I need these in my garden too!

Christa said...

I haven't heard of these before. They are simple and lovely.

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness, they are beautiful. I love the delicate inky swirls. I've added these to my wish list!

Beth said...

Very nice - I'd like to see a photo of how it looks mixed in with the rest of your garden. Does it need full sun?

I'll write you an email on our ND connection!

Connie said...

Beth - Yes, it prefers full sun. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo in a larger context. They are rather light and airy so work well inter-planted with other flowers. If used alone, they would look better planted enmasse. Go to www.Anniesannuals.com and search for Agrostemma to see some photos. (She sells plants only, not seeds.)

Look forward to your email!

Jane O' said...

Well, I guess I'm not alone. I never heard of this one either. I'm making a note in my garden journal for next year. Thanks for showing it to us.

Bev said...

I've not heard of these either. They are beautiful! Such interesting detail and colors. Thanks for letting us know about them. I learn so much from all of you bloggers.

Marie said...

Beautiful photos of beautiful flowers! You have got a real nice blog :o)

Gina said...

connie - these are pretty. i wanted to tell you that i told my garden buddy about reading your winter sowing stuff and sent her a link to your blog where you have the pictures of all the containers of seedlings and now we are both saving all sorts of containers and getting geared up to try it ourselves. Thanks!

Parisienne Farmgirl said...

Those will be in my garden next year!!! Where? I have no idea but they were lovely! I am running out of space and considering asking the lady across the street for a small patch of her unenjoyed yard to grow more veggies.
Thank you for this post! It's always wonderful to learn about new flowers.

Anonymous said...

Never heard of that lower, but they will be on my list for next year! Great pictures!

Kylee Baumle said...

WOW! I've not heard of this! I will definitely try this one next year! And it's a hardy annual? All the better! Thanks for growing it and telling us about it!