Scabious and Knautia are two members of the Teasel family that have found a home in my rockery. But today, as I join Kimberley at Cosmos and Cleome for her Thursday meme, I am featuring another member of this family – the relatively unknown Succisella inflexa (Moorabbiss), almost the same as Succisa inflexa.
It starts flowering in July or August and will continue until the first frost. Like Scabious, the bees and butterflies love it…
Summer Map Butterfly (Araschnia levana)
The buds are slightly pink, the flowers icy white, with just a tinge of violet to them.
Succisa plants are supposedly happiest on damp ground or wet meadows… well, this year they have certainly had more rain than usual, but I have had several beautiful, healthy plants thriving on dry, well-drained soil in the full sun in drought years too! However, I should point out that mine is a cultivated specimen: Succisella inflexa “Frosted Pearls”, which differs from the wild ones in that it is a little shorter (about 2ft high), and has longer leaves.
I love this plant for its dainty petals and delicate colour.
It is not invasive in my garden, but is easy to remove if it seeds itself where not wanted. It is very hardy, tolerates heat and drought as well as poor soil, and needs no special care – perfect for the middle of the inaccessible parts of the rockery. (The slugs and snails also pay it no attention).
😀
Do visit Kimberley to see what she has featured this week, and why not join in too!
(P.S. Most of these pictures are from a post I did a few years ago, which you can read here. And I also featured this plant here. )
Words and Herbs 
I really like the soft coloring and how round the flower heads are! I have really never seen this plant around here and I’m planning to keep my eyes open for it since I think it will be an interesting companion to the tall Verbena bonariensis.
It looks good with anything, but I like mine best in front of a green background such as my Potentilla shrubs. It will be interesting to see if you find one and how it does in your garden! 🙂
What a dainty, really sweet flower. It reminds me of raspberries, actually. Not the color, but the way it’s shaped. i would love to let this spread as far as it would like to go! 🙂
Yes, like with the Nigella I wish they would spread a little more. I think they should seed well this summer with all the moisture we have had. 🙂
So airy and delicate! Love the butterfly pic.
Thanks Jason. We have loads of butterflies now, after waiting so long for them to turn up!
Wonderful pictures!
Thanks Laurie! The butterfly was a very well-behaved model! 😉
Scabious like flowers are always a joy to see and as you say loved by the wildlife.
I love the Scabious too, especially the blue ones growing wild around here. My Knautia hasn’t really got established yet, but I hope to have a nice patch of that soon as well.
This plant is very uncommon here but what a cutie! It does remind me a lot of knautia.
I like its upright growth – tidier and more formal than the wavy scabious and knautia. 🙂
Interesting flower! I hope this year I can join a walk to succisa pratense (last years wild flower of the year).
I do hope you can go on that walk Uta – take some photos! 😉