Shady conditions all day cause the plant to grow leggy and prone to flopping.

If this happens, a good, thorough drink will usually perk it up.

Cornflower grows best with an average humidity range of 30 to 50 percent.

multicolored bachelor’s buttons

The Spruce / Letícia Almeida

Fertilizer

If your soil is poor, fertilize your cornflower monthly with diluted liquid manure orcompost tea.

If you have rich soil, you don’t need to feed your flowers at all.

Often mixing a bag or two of compost into the soil before sowing is enough for the entire season.

closeup of bachelor’s buttons

The Spruce / Letícia Almeida

Types of Cornflower

Most people are drawn to traditionalvibrant bluecornflowers.

You’ll often see this variety cropping up along roadsides or in the pastures of rural areas.

Or, you could also buy large, inexpensive packets of cornflower seeds.

bachelor’s buttons

The Spruce / Letícia Almeida

Do so six to eight weeks before the last expected frost using a seed-starter mix in a seedling tray.

Porous clay or terracotta pots are best.

Control them by reducing the population with bursts of water from the garden hose.

Bachelor’s buttons

The Spruce / Letícia Almeida

How to Get Cornflower to Bloom

How Long Does Cornflower Bloom?

Cornflower typically blooms for about 10 weeks (from May to mid-July).

Seeding the flower on a spaced-out schedule of every two weeks will also extend bloom time.

Blue cornflowers next to white daisies in garden

The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova

What Do Cornflowers Look Like and Smell Like?

Caring for Cornflower After It Blooms

Cornflower makes an excellent cut or dried flower.

Cut the blossoms in their prime before they begin to wilt.

Cornflower with purple petals and buds in front of yellow flowers

The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova

Deadheading Cornflowers

Increase the bloom time of your cornflowers bydeadheadingspent blooms.

Though deadheading may encourage more flowering, with this particular annual, the practice is not always necessary.

ensure to adhere to watering recommendations and thin seedlings to allow for proper airflow around the mature plant.

Cornflower stems with purple-pink flowers in garden

The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova

Usually, a good drink is all that is needed to perk them up.

Centaurea cyanusis an annual whileC.

montanais perennial.Both displaythe same rich blue color, butC.

Blue cornflowers in a garden with other pink and purple flowers

The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova

Montanaflowers have single petals and a dark reddish-purple center.

The cornflower plant producesedible flowers, making it a great addition to anykitchen garden.

These flowers are used to top salads, as their taste has been described as cucumber-like.

Cornflower has long been used in herbal and natural medicines as an anti-inflammatory, as well.

Add cornflower to a wildflower garden to attract bees and butterflies.

Or, include blue cornflower in a cutting garden paired with annuals like orange cosmos or yellow marigolds.

National Library of Medicine.