Lomelosia minoana

Also called Scabiosa minoana, this native of Crete is simply a joy to grow in a Mediterranean garden.

I bought this plant from Jardin sec and planted it in December 2023. It has been growing wider and heigher since, blooming profusely in soft mauve from May through July. The cream-colored seed heads stay all through summer and are specially beautiful in themselves. The plant may dry up a bit during summer but it will come back, fresh and green, by October.

This evergreen perennial grows to 80 x 80 cm in sun or half-shade. It needs well-drained, poor, even stony soil and should not be fed in order not to shorten its lifespan. With a Filippi code sécheresse of 4 there is no need to water it either. It is frost hardy down to -10 à -12 °C in well-drained soil and has allelopathic qualities, keeping down weeds in its immediate surroundings. It can reseed itself in the garden and butterflies love it.

Other varieties are Lomelosia crenata, Lomelosia cretica, Lomelosia hymettia, etc. They all look more or less the same, except for Lomelosia crenata, which blooms from May through November with smaller flowers in pink.