How to Grow Wallflowers – Tutorial

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Wallflowers
Image by armennano from Pixabay

FLOWERING PLANTS can beautify and brighten your surroundings, especially with a striking display of different colors and a wide variety of flowers that you can grow in your garden. Like any other plants, flowering plants’ viability depends on several factors such as location, soil type, planting season, or weather conditions.

But there’s one species of flowers that is easy to grow, drought-tolerant, and is not particularly fussy about the type of soil they’re planted on. This type of flower is the Erysimum, also known as Wallflower.

In this tutorial, you will learn about the proper ways to grow wallflowers and some practical tips to prolong their flowering life.

What is an Erysimum?

Erysimum is a genus of wallflowers that belong to the Brassicaceae or cabbage family. These flowering plants are closely related to cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, and kale. Typically, plants identified as such have four-petal flowers that resemble a cross, and wallflowers fall under this category.

There are varieties of wallflowers that are classified as biennials and perennials. Biennial wallflowers are typically grown from seed and sown in late spring or in early autumn. Most wallflowers are biennial.

Perennial wallflowers are propagated only from cuttings. They are also planted in May and September, which are considered the best seasons to plant wallflowers. They almost continuously bloom throughout the year, so varieties like Apricot Delight, Winter Orchid, and Bowles’s Mauve, are a great addition to your garden.

Wallflowers are very attractive to look at.  These clustered, four-petal blooms come in a host of lovely shades of red, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, green, and apricot. Additionally, they’re popular for their sweet-smelling scent, especially the biennial varieties.

Fast Facts about Wallflowers

So, if you’re thinking about growing wallflowers in your garden but not quite sure if they’re easy to deal with, I must say they’re surprisingly low-maintenance. Here are some facts about wallflowers:

  • Wallflowers are generally hardy blooms; they can grow anywhere, even on rocky areas, muddy cracks in bricks, or cement walls.
  • They can survive the drought season.
  • They flourish in warm temperatures, but they can tolerate areas with colder climates.
  • They prefer a bright, sunny location, but they can adapt to part shade.
  • Ideally, wallflowers thrive in fertile, well-drained soil, but they can grow in dry, poor soils.
  • They don’t need much fertilizer to grow well. But upon first planting, you can mix compost into the soil and apply an all-purpose fertilizer in the early spring and mid-summer.

But growing wallflowers is not without any downside:

  • They can’t tolerate harsh winds.
  • They don’t sit well in stagnant water.
  • They’re prone to clubroot disease.
  • Wallflowers contain very small amounts of cardiac glycosides, which can be toxic for both humans and animals. If ingested, you may experience mild gastrointestinal upset and dizziness.

Steps to Grow Wallflowers

Wallflowers can be grown either from seeds or cuttings. Bedding or biennial wallflowers are generally grown from seeds, while perennial wallflowers are grown only from cuttings.

A. Growing wallflowers from seed:

  1. Sow the seeds directly into the garden, at a depth of 13mm (0.5in) deep in rows 30cm (12in) apart. If you sow seeds in containers, make sure it has proper drainage.
    grow wallflowers from seed
    Photo courtesy of East Coast Hobby Gardening from YouTube
  1. Sow seeds thinly in a seed tray or simply press them into moist soil. Then cover them with a fine layer of compost.

Pro-tip: For better results, mix vermiculite into the soil to retain moisture. This will also allow seeds to germinate quickly and produce strong seedlings.

  1. Although wallflowers don’t need watering all the time, you need to keep the soil moist for the seeds to germinate fast. Water them regularly, especially in dry seasons.
  2. When the plants are large enough to handle, transplant them to their final flowering positions.
  3. You can also start growing the seeds indoors. In this case, wallflowers need light to germinate, so be sure to provide adequate light for germination. Scatter the wallflower seeds on the surface and cover them with about 1/4 inch of fine soil. Once established, you can transplant them to their final flowering positions.

Pro-tip: When the young wallflower plants are 12.5cm (5in) tall, pinch out the growing tips to foster bushiness.

B. To propagate wallflowers by cuttings:

  1. Take cuttings about 3 to 4 inches long, cutting just below a leaf joint, or node. Heel cuttings, which are made by pulling off a stem with a piece of the stem attached, often give better results.
    wallflowers by cuttings
    Photo courtesy of GreenTipsGarden from YouTube
  1. Strip all lower leaves and trim the remaining leaves to prevent water loss. Before planting the cuttings back, I suggest dipping them in a rooting hormone to accelerate root growth. Rooting hormones can be bought at any local gardening shop near you, but you can try some DIY natural rooting stimulants for your gardening needs.

Pro-tip:     One additive to use that’s great for cuttings is perlite, which helps drain excess water (as your wallflowers don’t need them). Perlite aids in forming much stronger roots than those grown in water alone.

cut the leaves
Photo courtesy of GreenTipsGarden from YouTube
  1. Insert the cuttings in pots or trays. Cover the tray with plastic to keep moisture in and place it in a warm area with bright light, but out of direct sunlight. Roots will appear in a few days.
    Insert the cuttings in pots or trays
    Photo courtesy of GreenTipsGarden from YouTube
  1. Once rooted and the plant is large enough to handle, transplant them to their final flowering positions.

Wallflower Care Tips to Prolong Flowering Period

Wallflower Care Tips
Image by Bruno /Germany from Pixabay
  1. Boost with liquid feeds. When the plants start flowering, keep the soil or compost moist. Adding liquid fertilizers will help extend the flowering life.
  2. Cut them back. Regularly prune the wallflowers once they have finished blooming. Alternatively, you can wait until the end of winter or very early spring, in which case, you can cut the plant back to its woody base. This will encourage new growth and more flowers well into the autumn. Pruning also keeps the plant compact and prevents widespread self-sowing.
  3. Pinch back dead blooms. Deadheading wallflowers are important to keep them healthy and to encourage a longer flowering season. Deadhead wallflowers as the flowers fade. If you don’t want any new seedlings to sprout from your garden, you may cut back flowers after the last wave of blooms in late fall to early winter.

Fair warning though; don’t cut back the wallflowers more frequently than usual because it can stifle your wallflower rather than encourage re-flowering. This will make them expire after only a few years.

Wallflower FAQ

When to sow wallflower seeds?

Sow Wallflower seeds indoors in early spring. Wallflowers thrive best when they are planted after the last frost has occurred, but it is not too late to plant them once you receive your seed packet!

When do wallflowers bloom?

Answering the question “when do wallflowers bloom” is difficult because Wallflower species have widely different bloom times. Some Wallflowers will flower from the time they are planted in spring until frost while others might only be available to buy in late summer or early autumn and may not start blooming until a year after planting begins.

How long do wallflowers last?

Wallflowers plugs can last up to three years if they are properly cared for and watered. Wallflowers transplants can live between five and seven years, depending on their growing conditions.

Conclusion

Wallflowers are a perfect addition to your garden of flowers because they are easy to grow, produce generous fragrant blooms, and are relatively low-maintenance. With different varieties and colors, they become strikingly beautiful when planted alongside spring bulbs and ornamental plants.

As mentioned earlier, there are two ways to propagate wallflowers: either from seeds or through cuttings. Whether you choose one method or the other, it is important to follow the simple steps so you can have a gorgeous display of wallflowers around your garden.

Although wallflowers are easy to deal with, they still need proper treatment and care to thrive under any condition and to produce flowers year after year. Wallflowers are considered short-lived perennials, but you can prolong their flowering life by considering some of the tips mentioned above.

Hopefully, I have everything covered in this tutorial. Feel free to share some comments and suggestions or add any relevant information for the benefit of our readers.

Nick Wayne

Gardening and lawn care enthusiast

Nicolaslawn
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