- Approximate height: Foliage: 4cm (1½ inches) Flower: 45cm (18 inches)
- Recommended water levels: plant in moist or wet soil but not under water
- Flowering time: May to July
- Flower colour: Pink
- Supplied in a 9cm pot
This beloved British native plant has star-shaped rose-pink flowers with deeply-cut petals. It forms rosettes of low-growing, slightly purplish leaves, and sends up flowers on tall slender branching stems in early summer. Found in fens, ditches, damp riverside meadows, and wet woodland margins across the whole of the British Isles, Ragged Robin has become less common in the wild due to habitat loss. The flowers are attractive to butterflies and long-tongued bees, and the plant is on the RHS 'Perfect for Pollinators' list. Sometimes known under the alternative name of Silene flos-cuculi.
The plant seeds fairly easily, so if you have bare ground around it, it will usually produce some spontaneous seedlings. If you really do not want any seedlings, cut off the flower stems when they go brown and dry.
If designing a planting scheme, we recommend approximately 5 Lychnis flos-cuculi plants per square foot of ground, or 2 - 3 plants per linear foot of pond edge. Read more here on how to pot and care for your marsh plant.