Scabious are well known as long flowering perennials, and for being fine valuable not only for their flowers but for the fact that they attract so many bees and butterflies. Until recently, those with cream flowers have tended to be much taller than those in the many other colours which have come on the market in recent years but now there’s a variety which is small enough for containers.
‘Little Cracker’ has flowers in the familiar scabious style but opening to white from cream buds. The first blooms appear in June and keep coming until the frosts and although the plants are a little taller than some other recent introductions, at 50cm they are small enough for containers and large enough to make an impact in the border.
Developed by British plant breeder Peter Moore, better known for his shrubs which include Choisya ‘White Dazzler’, ‘Little Cracker’ enjoys full sun and a well-drained soil. It’s especially happy on the kind of chalky soil that so many perennials find hard to take. Stems can be cut for the house, cut them just as the first florets in the flower head are opening; the stems may need re-cutting after a few days to keep the flowers fresh. Regular dead-heading, or cutting, will increase the flower power of flowers on the plant all through summer.
In containers, partner ‘Little Cracker’ with other flowers in pastel shades and with contrasting foliage of coleus or begonias in rich reds.
Editor-in-Chief of the RHS Encyclopedia of Perennials; writer for a wide range of newspapers and magazines including The Garden and The Plantsman; member of the RHS Herbaceous Plant Committee and Floral Trials Committee; author of many books on plants and gardens.
Source: RHS My Garden – Scabious ‘Little Cracker’: New from Binny Plants – Graham Rice
