Botanical name:Centranthus ruber
Folk names: fox’s brush

Type: Perennial

Wildlife: Nectar for bees, butterflies and attracts moths including the day-flying Humming-bird Hawk-moth. Caterpillar food plant for the Angle Shades moth.

Flowers: May to July

Decorative merit: Small, deep pink flowers in dense heads on sturdy stems that can grow to 90cm. Blueish green foliage. Sturdy stems, woody at base.

Where: Sun. Well-drained neutral or alkaline soil on banks, in borders, wild patches and in containers with a gravel/shell mulch. Try as a low hedge to separate cultivated and wilder parts of the garden. May seed into old walls if lucky! Tolerates poor soil. Val Bourne recommends cutting back in July for late autumn flowers.

Folklore: Naturalised in the UK since the 1700s. Share your stories about this plant.

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