Cornflower

The blue of the wheat fields

The cornflower is an annual herb of the daisy family, Asteraceae. It is famous for its intensely vibrant blue flowers, among the purest in the plant world, gathered in heads with fringed, tubular outer florets. The stems are slender, upright and branching, covered with fine greyish down, with narrow lance-shaped leaves. There are also cultivated varieties with pink, white and purplish flowers.

Origin and habitat

Native to Europe, it once grew abundantly as a weed in cereal fields, hence the name cornflower and its classification among arable plants. It favours open, sunny, well-drained ground, even poor.

Cultivation

It is very easy to grow from seed, sown in autumn or spring directly where it is to grow, in full sun. It is hardy, cold-resistant and tolerates drought well. It flowers for a long time in summer and is a valuable nectar source for bees, bumblebees and butterflies. It self-seeds readily.

Uses and facts

The flowers are edible and used to decorate dishes, salads and desserts; dried, they colour herbal and tea blends. The cornflower has strong symbolic value: it is a national flower in several countries and a memorial emblem in France. Due to intensive agriculture and herbicides, in the wild it has become much rarer than in the past.

Care

It needs little attention: sparing watering and no waterlogging. Removing faded flowers prolongs the bloom, while leaving some to ripen allows self-seeding for the following year.