Blooms cut when fully open last up to two weeks in a vase. For dried arrangements, harvest flowers before they fully open and hang upside down to dry. Its flowers are slender spikes of deep, rich blue and make great additions to bouquets. Blue Hills' is one of the best new varieties, with larger, thicker flowerspikes in a paler shade of blue than usual. Its attractive, aptly-named blooms resemble pincushions and attract butterflies to the garden.
Pincushion flower does best in sunny gardens.
Its bright yellow flowers have fringed petals and pretty spots of deep red in their centres. This variety is named after a beloved songbird commonly found in European gardens. Unlike most tickseed varieties, 'American Dream' blooms in bright pink and was cited by being named Europe's 1993 Perennial Plant of the Year. Tickseed also makes a superb cutflower. Cut fully-opened blooms for bouquets that last about seven to ten days.