Where is the best place to plant Lychnis?
Planting Location Lychnis plants thrive in full sun to partial shade. Too much shade will result in tall, spindly plants. Lychnis plants do best in fairly rich, moderately moist, well-draining soil. Lychnis coronaria, with its vivid pink or white flowers and silvery-grey leaves and stems, is probably the most widely grown lychnis and is easily raised from seed.Best Companion Plants for Lychnis coronaria Lychnis coronaria and Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’ Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’ makes a wonderful companion, subtly calming the vibrant color of Lychnis coronaria.
How to grow lychnis chalcedonica from seed?
Sow seeds individually over the surface and gently press down. Place in a propagator at 20-25°C or cover tray with cling film and leave in a warm room. Don’t exclude light, and allow 2-3 weeks for germination. When shoots appear, remove cling film or ventilate propagator. Seeds can be sown directly in drills (rows) or broadcast (scattered over the soil surface). Sowing in drills makes it easier to distinguish your seedlings from weed seedlings, and is suitable for seeds that need to be sown deeper than a few millimetres.Soaking seeds will remove any germination inhibitors to help trigger the seeds into growing at the right moment. The boosted moisture concentration around the seeds also signals that it’s ready to grow. Place your seeds in a jar, and fill the jar with warm water.Another option is to tuck seeds directly into soil outdoors. Planting seeds this way is called direct sowing, and it is an easy process that yields great results.
Is Lychnis a good cut flower?
It makes an excellent cut flower. Grow Lychnis chalcedonica in full sun in moisture retentive soil. Deadhead spent blooms to prolong flowering and propagate by division in spring. From a maintenance point of view Lychnis is easy to look after. All you need to do is dead-head regularly to make sure that your plants continue to produce new blooms. If you allow seed heads to form then Lychnis will put all it’s energy into seed production and then self sow.
Should I cut back Lychnis after flowering?
After flowering, cutting back helps keep the plant tidy and encourages strong new growth for next season. Simply remove any faded flowers and cut back the stems, leaving a few inches of growth. Although deadheading flowers isn’t necessary for continued blooming you may find that you prefer to trim back some of the flowering stems at some point in mid-summer. This will encourage new flowering stems to emerge. Flowers will be closer to the foliage and the plant will look tidier.