Honeywort Purpurascens Kiwi Blue Seeds - Cerinthe major

Cerinthe major Purpurascens Kiwi Blue, also called Honeywort, is an annual or biennial of great ornamental value that is still rarely found in our gardens. It bears flowers encased in bracts that are tinged with a uniquely magnetic purplish-blue. Its golden flowers are embellished at the base with a red or purplish line and gracefully nod. It evokes succulent plants, with its thick heart-shaped, bluish-green leaves, spotted with white in the centre. It can be used to quickly fill the gaps between perennials, to cover the ground of dry slopes or to decorate a rock garden. They are extremely easy to sow in light, well-drained soil, in full sun. 

Cerinthe major Purpurascens belongs to the family Boraginaceae, although it does not, at first sight, look at all like its cousin the borage. It is an annual or biennial plant, native to Mediterranean Europe and North Africa, that develops a taproot that allows it to grow in stony or sandy fields in poor, dry soil. In France, it is found in Provence, Languedoc, Ardèche and Corsica. This plant grows quickly and can even complete two growth cycles in one year. It forms a slightly succulent clump of foliage, made up of stems branching out from the ground that are covered with smooth, sheathed leaves of a satiny, bluish-green colour that are more or less punctuated with white spots. Flowering takes place from April to August, depending on the date of sowing. The stems are curled at their tips and unfurl, bearing 3 cm long, purplish-red tubular flowers. But its is the metallic, deep blue bracts of these flowers which glint in the light, that make this plant especially unique. The blooms are melliferous and are followed by the formation of 2 large black seeds per flower, which are easy to sow.

Cerinthe is the perfect plant to quickly cover the ground of barren slopes or the open spaces in a rock garden. It is imperative that the soil is well drained. Use it to easily create beautiful container displays, in a deep pot, together with the ornamental carrot Dara and Echium plantagenum. Its bluish hue combines wonderfully with that of zinc containers. Also install it in dry perennial beds, with grasses for example or plants with grey foliage (sagebrushes, false dittany, silverbush or Convolvulus althaeoides..).