Linum grandiflorum “Bright Eyes”
Large-flowered flax “Bright Eyes”: this selection plays on a striking contrast, with very pale pinkish-white petals centered around a dark red, almost black eye—hence its English name, “bright eyes.” Like all ornamental flax, each flower lasts only one morning, but flowering renews continuously throughout the summer.
Characteristics:
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Two-tone flowers: pinkish white with a deep red center, creating a very pure graphic effect.
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Airy habit: slender stems and narrow foliage give flower beds a light, gently moving texture.
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Easy and undemanding: a hardy annual that requires very little.
Precautions:
- This species is strictly ornamental: unlike cultivated flax (Linum usitatissimum), its seeds are not intended for food consumption.
Sowing advice:
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Exposure: full sun is essential—its flowers remain closed in cloudy weather.
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Soil: light, sandy, poor, and well drained. It dislikes heavy soils and stagnant moisture. Do not fertilize: in rich soil, the stems become elongated and flop.
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Method: sow directly in place in spring, barely covering the seeds. Its fragile root system does not tolerate transplanting well: avoid sowing in pots. Stagger sowings every three weeks to extend flowering. See how to sow your seeds.
Care advice:
- Almost none. Thin to 20 cm apart and water only in case of severe drought.
Beneficial combinations:
Benefits for biodiversity:
- Its flowers, which open each morning, provide nectar and pollen for bees and hoverflies throughout the warm season.
- Its seeds, left standing in autumn, feed small seed-eating birds.
Uses:
- Flower beds, rock gardens, borders, and flower meadows. Its stems are also suitable for country-style bouquets when picked in bud.
Harvesting your own seeds:
Leave the small round capsules to turn brown and dry completely on the plant, then gently crush them between your fingers over a container. Ornamental flax also readily self-seeds from one season to the next. See storing your seeds.
Commitment to Quality: at SemiSauvage - Permaculture, we grow and select our seeds with respect for all living things as our guiding principle. Based near the Auvergne Volcanoes, we choose reproducible, non-hybrid varieties, tested for their germination rate, sorted, and carefully packaged, without any chemical treatment. Our belief: to give gardeners back the ability to resow, year after year, seeds that truly belong to them.
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