Flowering from spring to early summer, the plants are a beautiful sight with the many tall flowering stems waving in the wind. Looking at the flowers closely, one realizes that each head, which is about 50 mm across, is made up of many smaller flowers that vary in shades of mauve and white. After flowering, the heads turn into tight, bristly balls that fall apart as the seeds ripen. Growing Scabiosa africana Scabiosa africana is easy to grow in the garden and is a long-lasting cut flower. It requires full sun to semi-shade and good garden soil mixed with compost.
New plants grow fast, flowering usually within their first year.
Older plants tend to get untidy, but cut the old long woody stalks right back after flowering. This will encourage the plant to make many new shoots from the base. The plants tend to seed themselves quite happily in the garden. New plants can be propagated from seed or cuttings. The seeds are inside the dried flowers and look like little badminton shuttlecocks.