Knautia macedonica

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Family: Caprifoliaceae

Countries: Asia, Bulgaria, Europe, Greece, Iran, Middle East, Romania, Turkey, Yugoslavia

Knautia macedonica is a superb garden plant with a long flowering season.  This herbaceous perennial is hardy and reliable, producing an abundance of stunning deep wine-red coloured flowers.  The blooms are circular; they resemble mini rosettes and are absolutely adored by bees and butterflies!  Knautia macedonica plants hold the majority of their leaves within the lower half of the plant; their tall and slender flowering stems have a branching habit, giving the plant an open appearance that allows you to easily view the plants growing behind and around it (in a similar manner as Verbena bonariensis).

Plants are happiest growing in a sunny area, somewhere as light and bright as possible is ideal.  Knautia macedonica plants flourish in the sunshine, but they will also tolerate partial shade.  I’ve grown Knautia macedonica successfully in very sandy and silty, light free-draining soils.  These plants will thrive in any well-drained soil, in a sunny position.  Avoid wet and waterlogged soils.  Knautia macedonica will grow happily in a large container of peat-free compost, in the sunshine, on the patio.

Knautia macedonica is a strong growing plant.  Established plants are pretty drought tolerant and robust.  Some years, I’ve found that my plants have picked up touches of mildew towards the end of the season, but this hasn’t affected the plants too badly.  Thankfully, the mildew has not persisted, nor has it become an annual event.  Within a few weeks, my plants have shrugged off the affliction, so mildew has never been particularly detrimental to the plants I’ve grown in my garden or at my allotment.

Knautia macedonica growing alongside Alliums.

Knautia macedonica forms plants that grow to around 80cm (2.5ft) tall.  These are not especially vigorous growers, they’re certainly not bullies.  Over time, Knautia macedonica plants will eventually spread out to cover an area of about 80cm (2.5ft) wide; although you could easily divide your plant every two or three years, to keep it in check and encourage your plant to happily occupy a smaller area.  Knautia macedonica plants can be divided in spring and summertime.  It’s not a prolific self-seeder for me, but I’ve grown my plants in full borders without open spaces; I’ve received the occasional gift of a self-seeded plant but your plants may seed more prolifically if there are open areas of soil around your plants.

Sow Knautia macedonica seeds from August until November (late summer until mid autumn).  I’ve found it easiest to sow Knautia macedonica seeds directly where I want my plants to grow and flower – there’s no need to mess about with pots or compost, unless of course you have a patio garden and you’re looking to grow Knautia macedonica in a pot.  If you’re a container gardener, you’ll need a large planter to ensure your Knautia macedonica is content to be contained.

Established Knautia macedonica plants bloom from May to November.  I’m sure that dead-heading the plants would encourage the production of many more new flowers, but even if you don’t have time for this, Knautia macedonica will keep going and producing new blooms over a surprisingly long period of time.  Knautia macedonica seed heads look great, they’re lovely in a vase, but they also provide food for birds and wildlife.

I’ve found Knautia macedonica to be a tough and resilient plant.  These plants are reportedly hardy enough to survive temperatures as low as -20C (-4F) but I’ve not tested this myself, as our winter temperatures have not been anywhere near this cold.

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