Wallflower Ruby Gem

Flowers that open fiery red and mature to a deep saturated ruby crimson, so a plant carries both at once as new buds open above older ones. That colour shift is the most attractive thing about it, and it means the planting is never a flat block of one shade.

It carries the full clove and spice wallflower scent, and the combination of a deep jewel colour with a warm spice perfume is a particular thing; the pale varieties smell sweeter and lighter.

Under near-black tulips it is about as strong a spring combination as you can build. It is compact and bushy at 30 to 40cm, flowering March through May.

It is a biennial. Sow in summer for flowers the following spring; there is nothing but a leaf rosette in year one. Sow a short row each year and the supply keeps coming.

All parts are poisonous if eaten. Keep it from children and pets and wear gloves when handling it.