Erysimum Bowless Mauve (Wallflower)

This fabulous Wallflower (Erysimum x linifolium) should be in every garden! Easy to grow, it provides months of highly colorful blooms from mid-spring through fall. Brilliant, rich mauve four-petalled flowers are held in a dense raceme well above the attractive gray-green foliage that is evergreen in mild winter areas.

This fabulous Wallflower (Erysimum x linifolium) should be in every garden! Easy to grow, it provides months of highly colorful blooms from mid-spring through fall. Brilliant, rich mauve four-petalled flowers are held in a dense raceme well above the attractive gray-green foliage that is evergreen in mild winter areas.

  • Recipient of the prestigious Award of Garden Merit of the Royal Horticultural Society
  • Vigorous, this sub-shrub reaches 24-30 in. in height (60-75 cm) and branches freely in a bushy and erect fashion. It spreads 18-20 in. wide (45-60 cm)
  • Highly versatile, it can be used as an edging specimen, mixed with other spring flowering bulbs and perennials in beds and borders, planted en masse, or in containers. Looks glorious when cascading from rock walls.
  • It prefers sunny locations (but tolerates part shade, although it might succumb to leaf blight and downy mildew more easily) and enjoys poor to moderately fertile, alkaline, well-drained soils. Drought tolerant!
  • Attracts butterflies and hummingbirds, but is ignored by deer and rabbits!
  • Seeds can be sown in spring, but Wallflower plants can be planted in the garden in late fall.
  • Despite being a perennial plant, it is often treated as a biennial plant or short-lived perennial. While it looks good and tidy in the first seasons, it tends to become leggy with age. Trimming lightly after flowering would prevent the plant from becoming leggy.
  • Toxic to horses.
  • This cultivar is named for one of the greatest English amateur gardeners, Edward Augustus Bowles.

Requirements

Hardiness 6
– 9

Heat Zones 3
– 10

Climate Zones 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Plant Type Perennials
Plant Family Erysimum – Wallflowers
Exposure Full Sun
Season of Interest Spring (Mid,Late)Summer (Early,Mid,Late)Fall
Height 2'
– 3'
(60cm
– 90cm)
Spread 2'
– 3'
(60cm
– 90cm)
Spacing 18″
– 24″
(45cm
– 60cm)
Water Needs Average
Maintenance Low
Soil Type Chalk, Loam, Sand
Soil pH Alkaline, Neutral
Soil Drainage Well-Drained
Characteristics Cut Flowers, Plant of Merit, Showy, Evergreen
Tolerance Deer, Drought, Rabbit
Attracts Butterflies, Hummingbirds
Garden Uses Beds and Borders, Edging
Garden Styles Coastal Garden, Gravel and Rock Garden, Informal and Cottage, Mediterranean Garden