Centaurea montana

Centaurea montata is a tall perennial thistle with bright blue flowers that bloom in summer, rising above its soft, silver green foliage.

The leaves are lanveolate, silfery-green and remarkably soft on the undersides.

The flowers resemble tiny little artichokes from which explode fireworks of bright blue petals, forming a unique shape atop tall slender stems.

Cousin to the cornflower, this centaurea is one of the quitessential wildflowers of Europe.

It is an extraodinarily hardy perennial and attracts multitudes of bees and butterflies in the summer.

It is drought tolerant and mostly disease free – whilst bringing a particularly elegant color palette.

Sun-loving, this baroque plant is perfect for natural, rewilded flower beds.

NOTA BENE: As this plant has grown up as a wildflower, it does have invasive tendencies – though as it is native to Europe, it is not an issue for the local ecosystems. Just beware that your palette can become very blue very quickly if you let nature take its course.

The Tale

Centaurea, the genus name, comes from the Centaur Chiron, who used the flowers of this plant as a poultice to cover an infected wound made by an arrow dipped in Hydra’s (the lake monster) blood.

The wound was cured and so, the story goes, Cornflowers were given the name Centaurea.

Montana indicates that it comes from the mountains – tough, resilient and fearless.

Other Names

Perennial cornflower

Mountain cornflower

Bachelor’s button

Montane knapweed

Mountain bluet

Origin

Europe