CERINTHE/HONEYWORT

BLOOM COLOR: green to purple to blue on each flower

FOLIAGE COLOR: green or blue/green

BOTANICAL NAME: Cerinthe major

ANNUAL OR PERENNIAL?: tender perennial in tropical areas; grown as a hardy annual in the US and often self-reseeds

WARM SEASON OR COOL SEASON?: warm season, plants will usually live until hard freeze

PLANT SIZE: 18 inches to 3 or more feet (varies mostly depending on the amount of sun the plant gets)

LIGHT NEEDS: full sun (at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day) will result in larger plants, part shade (3 to 6 hours of direct sunlight per day) is also tolerated and will result in smaller plants

WATER NEEDS: normal (about an inch of water total per week), is moderately drought-tolerant

FERTILIZER NEEDS: normal (balanced fertilizer about once a month)

IDEAL SOIL CONDITIONS: well-drained, fertile soil

PLANT SPACING FOR TRANSPLANTS: 6 to 12 inches apart

PLANT SUPPORTS NEEDED?: no

TO START FROM SEED - WHEN?: Indoors = 4 to 6 weeks before last frost; Direct sow = after all danger of frost has passed

SEED DEPTH: 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch

SEED SPACING: 1 per cell in a 128 cell tray; for direct sowing = 4 to 6 inches

TIME TO GERMINATION: 7 to 10 days

WHEN TO PLANT OUT: after danger of frost has passed

CAN IT BE PLANTED IN A CONTAINER?: yes

DURING GROWTH: watch for interesting color changes on bracts near the flowers

WATCH FOR THESE PESTS/DISEASES: generally disease- and pest-free

TIME TO BLOOM: 84 days

HARVESTING: save seeds from spent flowers to replant the following spring - seeds usually fall off of the flowers

DEADHEADING: deadheading encourages continuous blooming until hard freeze

POLLINATOR FRIENDLY?: yes, attracts bees and hummingbirds