Rose Campion Seeds

Add some brilliant magenta to your flower garden. This old-fashioned favorite grows naturally on rocky, scrubby hillsides, rock gardens, xeriscaping, wildflower meadows and cottage gardens. The felt-like leaves are a soft, pale, gray-green adding a soft texture when the flowers are not in bloom.  The bright hot pink pairs well with cooling purple tones.

Some gardeners grow rose campion in the front of their gardens despite the height of the flower stalks. When the plants have finished blooming, they cut the stalks down to the ground, leaving the low-growing rosettes of leaves to act as a silvery border.

Flowers are sparse the first year as the basal rosette is formed, but numerous in the second year. They are eager re-seeders that regenerate themselves every year.

Perennial, USDA zones 4-8, felt-like silvery gray leaves and bright magenta flowers. Forms a low-growing rosette 8” wide and 4” tall with thin flower stalks reaching 12” tall. Blooms late spring to early summer. Prefers full sun, tolerates partial shade. 

Prefers poor well-drained, dry soil over rich soil with only rare supplemental watering during extended dry periods. If you must water, apply the moisture slowly, making sure the water sinks deep into the soil. Overwatering will prevent blossoms from forming and over time may cause the plants to succumb to root rot.

Sow outside: in Fall. Seeds need a chilling period before they will germinate.
Sow inside: not recommended. 3 week stratifying in refrigerator 8-10 weeks before last frost.
Seed depth: Seeds need light to germinate. Gently sprinkle or press into the soil without covering.
Days to emerge: about 3 weeks after soil reaches 70⁰F
Seed spacing: 12-15” apart
In the spring, thin the seedlings you don’t want or transplant excess to other locations.