Scabiosa columbaria
Dove's Scabious
Common names: Pigeon Scabious, Scabious
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Pot size
- from 5 l
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- Flowering
- Jul–Oct
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −25 °C
- Water need
- Low
- Origin
- Native to Germany
Photo: Kurt Stüber [1] · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The Dove's Scabious, botanically Scabiosa columbaria, is a native perennial of dry grasslands and sunny limestone slopes. Above a loose rosette of narrow, grey-green, finely hairy leaves, flat, pale blue-violet flower heads rise on thin stems 40 to 70 cm tall. The outer florets are larger than the inner ones and surround the head like a wreath. It flowers almost continuously from July into October, and bees, bumblebees, and butterflies visit it eagerly. In the garden it belongs in sunny beds with lean soil, in a rock garden, on gravel areas, or in a flower meadow. It is short-lived but self-seeds on lean ground. Because lean grasslands have disappeared in many places, buy plants or seed from a nursery and never dig up plants from wild sites. For meadows, use regional seed mixes.
Care instructions
Plant Dove's Scabious in spring or September in a full-sun position with lean, well-drained, preferably calcareous soil, spacing plants 30 cm from neighbours. In the first summer, water during dry spells; afterwards rain is usually sufficient. No fertiliser is needed. The most common mistake is wet, heavy, or acidic soil, in which it dies within a few months. Remove spent flower heads regularly so it keeps blooming into October. Leave some heads standing in late summer so it self-seeds, as an individual plant stays vigorous for only a few years. In March, cut old stems back to the leaves at ground level.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingMar–May, Sep
FloweringJul–Oct
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 10 °C, ideally 18 °C
- Days to sprout
- 14 to 28 days
- Light
- Sprouts in light or dark
- Sowing depth
- 0.5 cm
- How to start
- Start indoors, then plant out
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
lime-loving, well-drained, lean, sandy
The small scabious grows best on lean, free-draining, limy soil, of the kind that nutrient-poor grassland and rock gardens provide. Sandy loam or loamy sand with a neutral to slightly alkaline pH is ideal. It does poorly on very acidic soil, and on heavy, wet soils it rots in winter. On heavy loam, therefore, mix in plenty of sand or grit, or make a raised bed.
Feeding
Light feeder
The small scabious needs no fertiliser. It is adapted to nutrient-poor soils, and every extra helping makes the stems soft so that they fall over. In a container, too, lean, sandy compost is enough, which you replace with fresh every few years in spring.
Overwintering
The small scabious is hardy and survives frost down to about minus 25 degrees in the bed without protection. Wet in winter is harmful, and on heavy soils the plants often die as a result. Cut the dried stems back in March down to the leaves at ground level. In a container, place the pot against a house wall, protect it from continuous rain and let excess water drain away well.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
- Division
The easiest way to propagate the small scabious is by sowing. Sow the seeds from March to May or in September, in pots or directly in the bed, cover them only thinly and keep them evenly, lightly moist. Germination can drag on over several weeks, and plants raised from seed often flower only in the second year. In spring, dividing older clumps is also possible, but it does not always succeed. On lean, open soil the species self-sows over time.
For your garden
Grow Dove's Scabious yourself
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