Bachelor's Button: An Annual Flower Worthy of a Perennial Garden

Bachelor's Button also carries the nickname of "Cornflower," so you may know it by this name. This flower is deemed to be an annual, yet you will find it in many perennial beds simply because of its beauty.

The flower will usually die out at the end of the growing season and you may have to replant it next year. It may drop seeds as it dies and surprise you buy coming back next year! You can even save the seed pods in the fall and replant next spring to insure that it grows again.

Bachelor's Button Location

Bachelor's button can grow to be anywhere from 2 to 3 feet tall, so you want to choose a location that will accommodate their height. They also prefer full sun and a restricted water diet. They like to be watered regularly but do not like being soggy.

Bachelor's Button will grow quite nicely mixed in with perennial flowers that return yearly. Just remember to check the full grown height on the different varieties and plant them accordingly.

Their dark colored fuzzy petals will draw attention to a flower bed that has lighter colored flowers or plants growing in it. You can be selective about colors to send a bold or delicate statement.

Common colors of the Bachelor's Button include pastels such as light blue and pink, or you may prefer dark blue, or maroon! There are several different varieties and colors to choose from. If your garden already has dark colors, you may want to add white Bachelor's Button for a dramatic effect.

Sowing Bachelor's Button

There are many ways to start growing your Bachelor's Button flowers. You can sow the seeds in directly outside in the spring. Many gardener's claim to sow them in the fall and they will sprout in early spring. This would be for milder winters than I have apparently because I have never been able to do it!

I plant my seeds in the spring when all chance of frost or cooler temperatures has passed. It may take longer for them to sprout, but I am assured a good bed of plants! You can also start your seeds inside in small containers during late winter. Once they have sprouted and the weather warms up, they are easy to transplant to the flower bed.

RE-Seeding Your Flower Bed

The great thing about annuals is that you can change your mind the next year without a lot of work! Some annuals will reseed and come back the next year. You can help them along with a couple of different methods. If you plan to have the Bachelor's Button again next year, dead head very sparingly!

Dead heading means to pluck the bloom as it dies off and remove it totally from the garden space. Dead heading does help produce more flower blooms, but it takes away the seeds that fall into the ground and reproduce the following year.

If you want the annuals to come back, allow some of the flower blooms to die out naturally and drop their seeds. You can also dead head and leave the bloom in the garden, if you want to remove the wilted flower.

Another method is to collect the flower head or seed pod and save it for next years planting. Allow the flower head to dry out and then store it in a clean sealed container. When spring arrives you just replant the Bachelor's Button seed pods!