Scabiosa Beaujolais Bonnets

First year flowering perennial scabious is one of the most useful things in a cutting patch and one of the most overlooked. 'Beaujolais Bonnets' carries deep claret pincushions flecked with pale stamens, on long wiry stems that need no support and never look stiff in a vase. It flowers from July until the frosts provided you keep cutting. Bees and butterflies work it constantly, so it is doing something useful even on the days you do not pick any. Leave the last flowers to go over and they form papery seed drums, pale and architectural, which dry beautifully for winter arrangements. Many growers value those as much as the flowers.