How to Grow Cephalaria Plants in your Garden

Gardener's HQ Guide to Growing Scabious

Cephalaria is a hardy perennial. It is large and can flower up to 2m (7 feet) in height.

Cephalaria has the common name of Scabious.

It flowers in the summer with yellow cup-shaped flowers.

As it is a large plant Cephalaria should be grown at the back of borders.

How to Grow Cephalaria plants in the Garden

If planning to grow Cephalaria plants outdoors from seeds, then they should be sown at a depth of 7 mm in the spring.

They prefer a partially shaded or sunny area of the garden that has moist soil.

If you are planning to first grow seedlings indoors then they should be started towards the end of winter.

They take around three to eight weeks to germinate at about 15 degrees Celsius (59°F). Seeds that do not germinate can be advanced by subjecting them to three weeks or so of stratification in a refrigerator.

Scabious should be planted outside with a spacing of about 60 to 80 cm (24 to 31 inches).

Caring for Cephalaria

Cephalaria are easy to look after but do require regular watering.

Due to their height Cephalaria plants should be staked in windy areas.

Once flowering has finished, they should be cut back, and every three years the plant should be divided to maintain vigour.

If proagating, then dividing the plant is also a good way of producing further Cephalaria plants, and should be done in the spring.

I hope that you enjoyed this guide on how to grow Cephalaria plants. You may also enjoy the following Gardener's HQ Caprifoliaceae growing guides: How to grow Weigela florida and Patrinia plants.