Quite a lot of years in the past RHS Chelsea Flower Present was full of a brand new flower, Lysimachia atropurpurea ‘Beaujolais’. Grown amongst grasses, the foliage dissolves with snaking blackcurrant purple and pink spires rising from the froth. Everybody was speaking about it and I used to be hooked, ordering seeds from Chiltern Seeds to sow that spring.
In our personal backyard, shut up, I discover the color extra vibrant. I notably love the wealthy berry purple buds.
Rising Lysimachia atropurpurea ‘Beaujolais’ from seed is straightforward however they could take a 12 months to flower. You possibly can plant in spring or I’ve additionally develop them efficiently in September, when temperatures begin to cool barely and we now have extra rain. Sowing the seeds onto the floor of compost into 7cm pots, maybe giving a lightweight dusting of compost. You possibly can sow into trays and transfer into larger pots however I discovered they grew pretty shortly making pot sowing a timesaver. They’re hardy and may be left exterior over winter with some safety from a chilly body or greenhouse.
Plant them out permitting about 50cm area per plant. They like full solar in wealthy, moisture retentive soil. Not boggy however sufficient water that they by no means dry out. I’m discovering they sprawl across the border in a manner that I like, although you may little doubt stake them to maintain them extra upright.
I really sowed mine in spring 2017. By autumn they had been so giant I planted them into the border they usually had been advantageous, surviving even the Beast from the East and -7C temperatures. The leaves had been scorched by the frost nonetheless.
Down on my allotment (above) I planted one spare plant as I had fairly just a few. This one has executed notably nicely with the additional area. It’s planted in my lower flower patch as Lysimachia atropurpurea ‘Beaujolais’ reportedly make good lower flowers. One thing I’m but to strive fairly but as a result of it seems too fairly to chop however I’ll replace this weblog with outcomes once I do. It is going to be fascinating to see how they react when deadheaded too as I haven’t seen data on this.
A brief-lived perennial, Lysimachia atropurpurea ‘Beaujolais’ died for me a 12 months or so after flowering. Nevertheless, to my delight, it self sowed gently round my allotment in future years giving me loads of vegetation without cost.
Lysimachia atropurpurea ‘Beaujolais’ is such a simple plant to develop from seed and a stupendous one in its first 12 months as a foliage plant, and much more so in flower the next 12 months. I’m very glad I grew some, it’s already a bit star of our backyard.
(This publish is edited from the unique publish written in June 2018 with additional years of rising Lysimachia atropurpurea ‘Beaujolais’).
