Erysimum 'Bowles's Mauve' – Perennial Wallflower (Set of 3 or 6)

The perennial wallflower that hardly stops flowering, carrying mauve purple spikes from early spring well into summer and often beyond.

Bowles's Mauve is the one every gardener ends up buying. It makes a bushy evergreen mound up to 75cm high and 60cm across, with narrow grey green leaves that give the border structure through the winter, and spike after spike of rich mauve purple flowers that bees and butterflies work from the first warm day. It holds an RHS Award of Garden Merit.

Give it full sun and free draining soil and it asks for almost nothing. It tolerates poor ground, dry spells and coastal wind, which is why it does so well on a gravel garden or the top of a wall, but heavy wet soil in winter will finish it. It is short lived by nature, so trim it after the main flush to stop it going woody and plan to replace it from cuttings every three or four years. Supplied as an established 1 litre root ball.

Cultural Information

• Common Name: Perennial wallflower, Bowles's Mauve
• Fully Grown Height and Spread: Up to 75cm tall by 60cm across
• Growth Habit: Bushy, mound forming evergreen sub shrub
• Perfect For: Borders, cottage gardens, containers, walls, dry and gravel gardens
• Foliage: Narrow, grey green, evergreen
• Flowering Time: Early spring to summer, and often longer in a mild year
• Planting Position: Full sun. It takes dry soil and coastal wind, and grows well in a container
• Soil Type: Free draining, poor to moderately fertile. Avoid heavy wet ground
• Hardiness: Fully hardy, RHS H5
• Maintenance: Low. Trim after the main flush and replace from cuttings every three or four years
• Seasonal Interest: Spring and summer, with evergreen foliage the rest of the year
• Type: Evergreen perennial sub shrub