Lychnis coronaria
rose campion
Delivery options
- Standard £5.95
- Position: full sun
- Soil: moderately fertile, moist but well-drained soil
- Rate of growth: average
- Flowering: June to October
- Hardiness: fully hardy (but short-lived)
Vibrant, vivacious rose pink flowers persist for months on end from June to October, held above felty, silvery foliage. A perfect border filler and unsurprisingly, winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit, its plentiful blooms are also a popular destination for pollinating insects. A short-lived perennial, that happily self-seeds - so some ‘editing’ may be required!
Apply a generous mulch back the faded flowerheads in late summer and autumn. of well-rotted compost around the base of the plant in early spring. Cut back the faded flowerheads in late summer and autumn. If using as a boggy/marginal aquatic, plant out in reliably moist or boggy soil, or pot up into a pond basket and place at the margins of a pond at a depth of 0-10cm (0-4in). Removing seed heads encourages new flowers to form. Cut back all growth at the end of autumn. Choose our 9cm pot range for planting above the waterline, or our aquatic pot range for at or below the water's surface.
Surface-sow directly onto trays filled with good seed compost in March or April, and maintain temperatures around 20C. When seedlings are large enough to handle, pot them up individually and grow them on. Gradually harden off before planting outside after risk of frost. Autumn-sown seedlings (August to October) should be overwintered in a coldframe before planting out the following spring.