Scabiosa atropurpurea Black Knight

Scabiosa atropurpurea 'Black Knight' is dramatic. Bold, dark plum pincushion-like flowers, some with sharply contrasting white stigmas, appear from summer to autumn. Bees and butterflies are drawn to them, so are humans! They’ve got almost everything: colour, scent, a long flowering season, cutting and, if so inclined, a dye plant too!

🌸 Flowering: June to October
📏 Height: to 90cm
🌿 Short-lived perennial, grow as an annual

Sow: two approaches to choose from. Under cover early or late in the year, in trays, lightly cover the seeds, keep at 18-25C. Pot up when large enough and grow on until frost is past and you can plant them out.  Or direct sow, in April or May, thinning seedlings 15-30cm apart.

Grow: they like well-drained soil in a sunny spot. Regular deadheading or cutting will prolong flowering. Cutting back faded flower stems in autumn helps maintain plant health. A light mulch can protect the roots over winter. However, for reliable flowers it’s best grown as an annual.

Enjoy: I’ve done some dyeing, you need a lot of flowers, and that is something that Black Knight does very well.  But for pure pleasure seeing these amongst the other flowers is drama enough for me.

🏡 In your garden

•    Urban and courtyard gardens
•    Coastal gardens
•    Cottage and informal gardens
•    Patio and container plants
•    Meadow and naturalistic planting
•    Pollinator planting
•    Flower borders and beds
•    Cutting gardens

✂️ Cut flower

•    Fresh vase life of up to 10 days
•    Cut when buds are just beginning to open and pop into lukewarm water
•    Strip the lower leaves and cut the stem at a diagonal before putting in a vase
•    Change the vase water and trim the stems every couple of days
•    Fabulous paired with contrasting bright or lime-green foliage and flowers

🐝 Pollinator friendly

•    RHS Plants for Pollinators recommended
•    Honeybees, bumblebees, solitary bees and hoverflies frequently visit
•    They attract a range of butterflies, so you could see the garden favourites (Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Peacock, Meadow Brown and Common Blue) stopping by

🎨 Natural dye plant

•    These can yield a wide range of shades ranging from deep greens and teals to blues, purples, and pinks. It all depends on the mordants and pH modifiers used
•    Dried flower heads are more concentrated. Follow a low-and-slow route, simmering (not boiling) for an hour before leaving the flowers to steep overnight before straining.
•    Start with tannin then alum mordants
•    Add the wet fabric to the dye bath and bring it back to a gentle simmer for an hour, then leave it in the pot to cool completely before hanging in the shade to dry
•    Even then the colours are considered fugitive. The tones shift and fade over time when exposed to sunlight and frequent washing. A small amount of iron water can improve the lightfastness but will shift the colour.
•    For pinks and maroons add a splash of white vinegar to the dye bath, for the greens add a little sodium bicarbonate. Remember that these colours will shift again if you then use iron water.

📜 Traditional uses

•    The name Scabiosa comes from the Latin scabies, meaning “itch”, reflecting the plant's long-standing traditional use for treating itchy skin conditions.
•    This is a historical use only, not a recommendation for medicinal use.