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Dove pincushions

Scabiosa columbaria

Also called Lesser scabious, Pigeon scabious, Small scabious, Pigeon's Scabious, Yellow Scabious, Morning Bride, Scabiosa

Dove pincushions
Photo: Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0

Scabiosa columbaria is a short-lived perennial wildflower with pale lavender or blue pincushion flowers from summer to autumn. It grows best in full sun in well-drained, lime-rich soil, like the calcareous grasslands it comes from.

Family
Caprifoliaceae (Honeysuckle family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Full sun
Water
Water sparingly once established, letting the soil dry between waterings.
Soil
Well-drained, neutral to alkaline, lime-rich soil or gritty mix.
Temperature
Hardy to about -20 °C; protect pots from prolonged freezing wet conditions.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Europe to Iran and Arabian Pen., NW. Africa, Trop. African Mts.
Climate
temperate

About

Scabiosa columbaria, called the small scabious or dwarf pincushion flower, is a widespread species of flowering plant in the genus Scabiosa, native to Europe, Africa, and western Asia, from Sweden to Angola. In the garden it is a short-lived deciduous perennial. In the wild in Europe it prefers to grow in calcareous grasslands.

Growing to 1 m (3.3 ft) tall by 0.5 m (1.6 ft), it has simple branched grey-green leaves, and pale lavender or blue multi-petalled flowers from summer to autumn.

Other Scabiosa plants

Northeastern Scabious · Pincushion Flower · Pincushions

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Scabiosa columbaria 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.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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