Golden Acre Home & Garden Centre's Plant Library

Brand:  Monrovia

Description:

Gorgeous violet-purple flower heads with a tantalizing aroma, a great companion for pansies; cool season bloomer, best in full sun; a self-seeding biennial, succumbs to root-rot if winter soil is wet and not well-drained; tolerates hot dry sites

Ornamental Features

Bowles Mauve Wallflower features showy clusters of fragrant violet flowers rising above the foliage from early spring to early fall. Its narrow leaves remain grayish green in colour throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Bowles Mauve Wallflower is an herbaceous annual with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Self-Seeding

Bowles Mauve Wallflower is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Bowles Mauve Wallflower will grow to be about 14 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 15 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 12 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. Although it's not a true annual, this fast-growing plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist growing conditions, but will not tolerate any standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for alkaline soils. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.

Bowles Mauve Wallflower is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.