Scabious – A comparison of Scabiosa and similar perennials

Succisa pratensis – Devil’s Bit Scabious, Blue Buttons. Good for any damp planting and useful in meadow schemes where a Spring meadow management regime can be applied. The flowers are dusky blue buttons held on stifly branching stems. Particularly effective en masse. Grows on slightly acid to calcareous soils. A wildflower that can holds its own in the border.The curious common name, Devil’s Bit Scabious has two roots. Scabious derives from the use of the plant to cure skin ailments such as scabies and even those from the bubonic plague, (Scabere is the Latin for scratch). ‘Devil’s Bit’ derives from folk tales of the Devil biting off the short black roots in his anger at the plants medicinal abilities.

Scabiosa caucasica ‘Perfecta Blue’ is an excellent modern hybrid scabious, bred to be good in the border and as a cut flower. The large blooms are of a good mid blue with typical central creamy ‘pincushion’ decorated with a sprinkling of pink stamens. loves a little added lime and loved by the butterflies.

Scabiosa caucasica ‘Perfecta Alba’ is an excellent modern hybrid scabious, bred to be good in the border and as a cut flower. The large blooms are of a good mid blue with typical central creamy ‘pincushion’ decorated with a sprinkling of pink stamens. loves a little added lime and loved by the butterflies.

Knautia macedonica ‘Red Knight’. Over dense clumps of softly hairy folaige come a mass of arching stems, widely branching, bearing dense pincushion flowers of a deep rich crimson. The colour is intense, but the flower head is quite airy so this lovely plant can ease its way into all sorts of planting schemes without dominating. An easily grown and rewarding plant for full sun. 80cm. A shorter variety than the species.

Cephalaria gigantea . Giant Yellow Scabious. A magnificent sight in early summer with its large mound of deeply cut foliage and 6ft branching stems generously furnished with 3in pale lemon flowers which sway in the slightest breeze. You can use Cephalaria at the back of any scheme or alternatively further forward as the flowering stems are not dense, allowing you to see through to sights beyond.