Crambe cordifolia - Flowering Sea Kale Seeds

Crambe cordifolia carries the pretty French common name of chou nuage (or cloud cabbage in English), because of its blooms that look like a cloud of small white flowers. This elegant cousin of the garden cabbage is very much a perennial plant that will stay with the gardener for about ten years. A few years of man-sized happiness with your nose immersed in a honey-scented mist. Only its foliage, composed of large fleshy heart-shaped leaves, reminds us that it is a cabbage, but what a cabbage! Plant it in the sun, a little away from other plants with vigorous root systems that could put up too much competition for it. Give it deep, well-drained, fertile soil, even a calcareous one.

Crambe cordifolia is a plant of the family Brassicaceae, formerly Cruciferae. It is native to the Caucasus. It is a perennial herbaceous plant with a powerful root system that reaches deep into the soil. The plant takes time to establish itself and will only reach its full potential after 2 to 3 years of cultivation. Sowing it requires a little experience and patience since the germination is sometimes slow and a little fickle. The young plants will need to be protected from gastropods.

The basal foliage develops every spring, forming a mound 60 cm in diameter. Then thick, branched flower stems rise up, easily reaching a height of 1.80 m, forming a misty cloud measuring 1 m in height and in width. This very airy flowering takes place from the end of May to the end of July, depending on the climate, 2 to 3 years from seed. Its inflorescences are made up of branched spikes on which very small white flowers with 4 petals, 1 cm across, cling. Nectar-rich, they give off a sweet, honey-like scent that attracts pollinating insects by the hundreds. The flower stems sometimes remain after the petals have fallen off. The blooms are followed by the formation of small, hard round fruits called silicules, each containing one seed. The foliage, at the base of the stems, consists of large, heart-shaped leaves, reaching 40 to 60 cm in length and width, which are quite breakable. They are thick and fleshy, toothed and hairy, crinkled, puckered and bluish-green in colour. The few leaves on the stems are smaller, hairless and oval in shape. The basal foliage tends to be less beautiful and may even disappear after the flowers fade.

Flowering sea kale is not difficult to grow, but it requires lots of sun and deep, well-drained soil. Like a baby's breath, it is the perfect in beds where its huge, airy sprays serve as a great foil for large-flowered plants, such as roses or tree peonies for example. Since this perennial takes its time to establish itself, annual plants (love-in-a-mist, Cosmos, cornflowers, ornamental carrots) can be sown in the first year to fill the spaces reserved for it, just the time it takes for the sea kale to attain full maturity. Pretty perennials such as the geraniums Rozanne or Blue Cloud also combine well with them from a distance. Other plants with airy blooms such as Thalictrum, Aster cordifolius or Eragrostis spectabilis can compose quite a poetic setting, planted along with flowering sea kale, at a safe distance from their roots. These plants become quite enormous and flower from mid-summer until the first cold spells, enhancing their  large, lobed foliage.