Cornflower 'Polka Dot Mix' Seeds

'Polka Dot Mix' takes the classic cornflower and adds a whole palette: blue, pink, red, lavender, white and deep maroon from a single sowing. The frilly, button-like flowers of Centaurea cyanus sit on wiry, silver-green stems from early summer, and they keep coming if you cut them. They last well in a vase, dry nicely and look at home in a cottage border, a wildlife patch or a large patio pot. Bees and butterflies visit all summer, and the goldfinches often take the seed heads in autumn if you leave a few.

Sowing and growing

• Sow outdoors where they are to flower March to May, or September to October for earlier flowers next year
• Or start indoors in modules February to April
• Sow about 6 mm deep and thin to 20 to 30 cm apart
• Germination takes 7 to 14 days
• Full sun, in any well-drained soil, even poor ground
• Grows to around 40 to 50 cm tall
• Flowers June to September; cut or deadhead often for more blooms
• A hardy annual

What you receive: a packet of about 150 seeds from Piccolo Seeds, with growing instructions on the back.

Find more flower seeds in our range, see our plants for wildlife and pollinators, or browse summer flowering plants for the border.