Digging deeperPlant Library

Crimson Scabious flowers

(Photo courtesy of NetPS Plant Finder)

Ornamental Features

Crimson Scabious features airy burgundy pincushion flowers at the ends of the stems from early to late summer. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its narrow leaves remain green in color throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Crimson Scabious is an open herbaceous perennial with an upright spreading habit of growth. It brings an extremely fine and delicate texture to the garden composition and should be used to full effect.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Crimson Scabious is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use

Planting & Growing

Crimson Scabious will grow to be about 24 inches tall at maturity extending to 3 feet tall with the flowers, with a spread of 24 inches. It tends to be leggy, with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and should be underplanted with lower-growing perennials. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 3 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers to grow in average to dry locations, and dislikes excessive moisture. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for alkaline soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is not originally from North America.