Corncockle organic seeds - Agrostemma githago

Corncockle is an annual wildflower that is now regaining its place in gardens after long being considered a weed of cornfields. With its mauve to pink flowers borne at the top of slender stems, it brings a touch of flowery meadow to borders and bouquets. These organic seeds come from a crop grown without chemical treatment, respecting beneficial wildlife and pollinators. Corncockle self-seeds spontaneously, year after year.

Agrostemma githago belongs to the Caryophyllaceae family. It bears many common names: corncockle, corn campion, common corncockle, corn pink, crown-of-the-field or field pink. Its main botanical synonyms are Githago segetum, Lychnis githago, Lychnis segetum and Silene githago. It is an annual meadow species, native to southern and eastern Europe as far as northern Iran and more widely across Europe, temperate Asia and North Africa; it was subsequently carried with sacks of grain to almost every continent. In the wild, it is found in cornfields, poor meadows and sunny roadsides, on neutral to lime-bearing, light and well-drained soil. This plant completes its cycle within one season: rapid germination, vigorous growth, flowering from late spring to summer, then seed production ensuring its persistence through self-seeding.

Corncockle forms a loose clump of erect stems, often branched in their upper part, with very fine, silky grey hairs. Plants reach 60 to 80cm in height and 20 to 30cm in width. The leaves are narrow, linear to lanceolate, 4 to 13cm long and 5 to 10mm wide, greyish-green, also covered with a light down. The flowers, solitary at the top of long stalks, measure about 3cm in diameter. They have a swollen tubular calyx ending in five long, very pointed leaf-like sepals that extend well beyond the corolla. The five petals are purplish pink to violet mauve, often paler at the base, with darker veins forming fine radiating stripes. White forms exist, though they are rarer. The nectar-rich flowering occurs from May-June to August depending on sowing date and region. The fruit is an ovoid capsule containing many grey to black, kidney-shaped, rough seeds, which readily self-sow if the soil is somewhat bare. All parts, particularly the seeds rich in saponins, are toxic to humans and animals. Once dreaded in wheat fields, where it could contaminate flour, it has become rare with seed sorting and the use of weedkillers, to the point of now being protected or monitored in several regions.

The organic Corncockle is essential in naturalistic or cottage gardens, and its flowers make charming arrangements to decorate the home. It pairs perfectly with plants such as ‘Falling in Love’ poppies, the double cornflowers of organic Centaurea cyanus ‘Blue Boy’, Nigella damascena ‘Miss Jekyll Alba’ and the large orange discs of Cosmos sulphureus ‘Crest Orange’. Together, these annuals form a colourful profusion that attracts a host of pollinators and provides armfuls of cut flowers.