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CENTAUREA MONTANA-looking sad

IgrowfromseedIgrowfromseed Posts: 284
in Plants
My centaurea Montana is looking sad. It flops down at flowering time revealing the bare centre. How best to keep it looking bushy- stake support? Do folks cut it down to the base after flowering? But would lose all those tasty bird seeds. It’s in full sun for 1/2 of the day-? Move to a sunnier site. 

Posts

  • gjautosgjautos Posts: 429
    I cut mine right down after flowering, it regrow very quickly and flowers a few times. I find if I don't it doesn't reflower, but also looks a mess as it flops over other plants.
  • IgrowfromseedIgrowfromseed Posts: 284
    Found this recommendation to get a bushier plant:
    ” Pinch back the growing tips of your mountain bluets by 1/2 to 2 inches with your fingernails to encourage bushier growth. Pinch back early in the spring in warmer climates and to maintain their natural bloom time in any climate. Pinch back to a node -- a swelling where new growth is set to emerge -- where possible. Pinch the outer areas back farther than the center of the plant for a more rounded shape, advises author Tracy DiSabato-Aust in "The Well-Tended Garden: Pruning and Planting Techniques."”
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    The bed where my Centaurea Montanas grow is so rammed with plants that they all hold each other up.  However, I take old plants out every couple of years ... they're quickly replaced by self-sown seedlings.
    As you say, it would be a shame to lose all those seedheads that the goldfinches love so much.  :)

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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