Digging deeperPlant Library

Description:

Gorgeous violet-purple flower heads with a tantalizing aroma, a great companion for pansies; cool season bloomer, best in full sun; a self-seeding biennial, succumbs to root-rot if winter soil is wet and not well-drained; tolerates hot dry sites

Ornamental Features

Bowles Mauve Wallflower features showy clusters of fragrant violet flowers rising above the foliage from early spring to early summer. Its narrow leaves remain grayish green in color throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Bowles Mauve Wallflower is an herbaceous perennial with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Self-Seeding

Bowles Mauve Wallflower is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use

Planting & Growing

Bowles Mauve Wallflower will grow to be about 14 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 15 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 12 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a fast rate, and tends to be biennial, meaning that it puts on vegetative growth the first year, flowers the second, and then dies. However, this variety tends to self-seed and will thereby endure for years in the garden if allowed, although because it is a hybrid, the seedlings may not come true to type. 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 is very adaptable to both dry and moist growing conditions, but will not tolerate any standing water. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for alkaline soils. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.