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Erysimum
Also called Wallflowers
Wallflowers (Erysimum) are a genus of more than 150 species in the cabbage family, grown mainly as annuals or biennials for their fragrant spring flowers. The key to growing them is well-drained, dry soil, since they rot in wet conditions.
Erysimum, or wallflower, is a genus of flowering plants in the cabbage family, Brassicaceae. It includes more than 150 species, both popular garden plants and many wild forms. Erysimum is characterised by star-shaped (and/or two-sided) trichomes growing from the stem, with yellow, red, pink or orange flowers and multiseeded seed pods.
Most wallflower garden cultivars (e.g. Erysimum 'Chelsea Jacket') are derived from E. cheiri (often placed in Cheiranthus), from southern Europe. They are often attacked by fungal and bacterial disease, so they are best grown as biennials and discarded after flowering. They are also susceptible to clubroot, a disease of Brassicaceae. Growth is best in dry soils with very good drainage, and they are often grown successfully in loose wall mortar. There is a wide range of flower color in the warm spectrum, including white, yellow, orange, red, pink, maroon, purple and russet. The flowers, appearing in spring, usually have a strong, pleasant fragrance. Wallflowers are often associated in spring bedding schemes with tulips and forget-me-nots.
The cultivar 'Bowles's Mauve' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. It can become a bushy evergreen perennial in milder locations. It is strongly scented and attractive to bees.
Wallflowers are native to temperate Eurasia, North Africa and Macaronesia, and North America south to Costa Rica. Many wallflowers are endemic to small areas, such as:
Western wallflower · Wallflower · Spreading wallflower · Erysimum siliculosum
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Erysimum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
