Linum
Flax
- Height × spread
- 0.25m – 1.2m × 0.3m – 0.4m
- Position
- Full sun
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
These cover annuals, biennials and perennials, though many of them are short lived. A few varieties are grown as ornamental garden plants. The annual forms have a showy range of colours with a number of cultivars. The colours are in the range of white, red, blue and pink. There are perennial forms with yellow or blue flowers as well as white. There is a useful shrubby perennial form (Linum suffruticosum) with flowers that have contrasting eyes and veins. The perennial flax, Linum perenne, is a delicate wavey plant with soft blue flowers and there are some cultivars available. Of the popular cultivated forms Linum usitatissimum stands at 1.2 metres high with blue flowers. The other forms stand between 30cm and 60cm.
- Flower colour
- Blue, Yellow
- Foliage colour
- Green, Grey
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- No
- Shape
- Bell, Column, Dome, Fan
- Height
- 0.25m – 1.2m
- Spread
- 0.3m – 0.4m
- Season of interest
- Spring, Summer
- Evergreen
- Deciduous
- Garden style
- Rock garden, Prairie garden, Mediterranean garden, Gravel garden, Cottage garden
- Sun or shade
- Likes full sun
- Soil type
- Loam (normal), Poor soil
- Soil pH
- All types
- Drainage
- Well drained soil, Dry soil, Drought resistant
- Winter hardiness
- Varies, some are not hardy
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Use for
- Rabbit resistant, Bee attraction
- Hazards
- No
Spring
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water in dry periods
Established plants in the ground can cope with 7-10 days of dryness, and shrubs often manage 2 to 3 weeks. Water one section of the garden thoroughly each day rather than a little everywhere. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather.
Summer
Summer - early · Outdoors
Feed a general fertiliser
Where plants have moderate needs for nutrients, they can simply be given a general feed, fairly early in the growth season so that the growth has plenty of time to harden off before the cold weather.
Give plants a general boost with the application of a general purpose fertiliser which is spread around the root area of the plant, with amounts as directed on the feed label.