Also known as the Cuckoo Flower, Meadow Spink, Polly Baker, Shaggy Jacks and Bachelor's Buttons. Member of the Pink and Carnation family. Hardy perennial growing 1 - 2.5 ft (30 - 76 cm) high. Found naturally in damp meadows and woods. It has thin stems and sprays of red flowers with raggedy petals. Flowers May to July.Butterflies love this plant, especially white species of butterfly, the Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary and the Common Blue. It is the food plant of long-tongued bumblebees, and the Campion, Lychnis, Twin Spot Carpet and Marbled Clover moths.
Men would carry the plant in their pockets and success in love was determined by whether the plant thrived or not. By the 1600s girls carried the plant as well under their aprons, giving each plant the name of a local boy. The flower that opened first would bear the name of the boy she would marry or who wanted to marry her. Some Yorkshire folk call the plant the Thunder Flower. The plant also has sinister associations with goblins and evil spirits.
Plant out in spring or autumn. Grow in sun or partial shade. If deadheaded it will bloom again until August or even later. Divide clumps in April if necessary. Cut down flower stems in autumn.
If planted in a meadow, don't cut the grass during the flowering months. Self-seeds well.
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