My Scabiosa anthemifolia ‘Pink Lace’ has wonderful flowers about 2 inches/5cm wide floating over a lovely emerald green foliage all summer long. Scabious is better known as the butterfly blue or pincushion flower and it was believed “that the Devil did bite it for envie, because it is an herbe that hath so many goode vertues and is so benificent to mankind” – given where the name comes from I hardly like to think of the manner of uses Scabious was taken for. It is enough that it grows in the baking hot places of my garden and is beeloved by butterflies and bees and can be cut for the house as by harvesting the flowers you get many more all season long.
The Garden Times 