Silene flos-cuculi
Ragged Robin
Common names: Cuckoo Flower, Ragged Robin Campion
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- Flowering
- May–Jul
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −30 °C
- Water need
- High
- Origin
- Native to Germany
This description was machine-translated.
Description
Ragged Robin, botanically Silene flos-cuculi, is a native meadow flower of damp sites, and its name recalls that it blooms around the time the cuckoo calls. From May to July, pink flowers appear on slender stems 40 to 80 cm tall. The petals are deeply cut into narrow lobes, so the blooms look tattered. The leaves are narrow, and at the base the plant forms loose rosettes. As a meadow plant, it has become rare in many places due to drainage and fertilization. In the garden, it belongs at a pond edge, along a stream, in a bog bed, or in a meadow that stays moist. Butterflies, bumblebees, and hoverflies visit it readily. Buy plants or regional wild seed from a nursery. At natural sites, do not dig anything up and do not pick anything.
Care instructions
Plant Ragged Robin in spring or autumn in a sunny to lightly partly shaded spot with permanently moist, humus-rich soil, about 30 to 35 cm from its neighbors. The soil must never dry out. Water thoroughly during dry periods, preferably in the morning. It does not need fertilizer. After the main flowering, you can cut the shoots back to about 10 cm above the ground, and it will sometimes flower again. If you leave some seed heads standing, it self-seeds on moist, open soil. This keeps the stand young, because the individual plant does not live long. In a meadow, mow only after seed ripening, from late July onward. Typical mistakes are a site that is too dry and soil that is too nutrient-rich, where grasses crowd it out.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingApr–May, Sep–Oct
FloweringMay–Jul
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 5 °C, ideally 15 °C
- Days to sprout
- 14 to 42 days
- Light
- Needs light to sprout
- Sowing depth
- Press in, don't cover
- How to start
- Sow straight into the bed
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
moist, humus-rich, loamy
Ragged robin grows in wet meadows and damp meadows and needs soil that never dries out completely. Humus-rich, loamy soil that holds water suits it ideally; acidic to neutral is fine for it. It thrives by a stream, at the edge of a pond, in a hollow or in a damp bed, and it dies on dry sandy soil. Soil that is too rich in nutrients encourages vigorous grasses and perennials that crowd it out; poor to moderately nutrient-rich soil is better.
Feeding
Light feeder
Ragged robin needs no fertiliser. In wet meadows it grows on nutrient-poor to moderately nutrient-rich soil, and too many nutrients only encourage vigorous grasses that crowd it out. When planting, some mature compost in the soil is enough; after that, leave it in peace.
Overwintering
Ragged robin is completely hardy and needs no protection. In autumn it largely dies back above ground and sprouts anew from the base in spring. Make sure the soil stays moist in winter too, because it tolerates wet far better than drought.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
- Division
The best way to propagate ragged robin is by sowing. In April and May, sow in pots or in the bed; in September and October, directly outdoors. Only press the fine seeds in and cover them at most with a wafer-thin layer of soil. At about 15 to 20 °C they come up after 1 to 3 weeks, some seeds only after winter. Keep the soil evenly moist. You can divide older plants in spring or autumn. Because the plant is not very long-lived, it is worth sowing again now and then or making use of self-seeding.
For your garden
Grow Ragged Robin yourself
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