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Caryophyllaceae
Rose Campion
Lychnis coronaria
Religion, hidden love, hot pink revelation.
- Family
- Caryophyllaceae
- Genus
- Lychnis
- Native to
- Southeastern Europe, Western Asia
- Bloom season
- Summer
- Type
- Short-lived perennial
- Height
- 60–90 cm (2–3 ft)
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Hardiness
- 4–8
- Lifespan
- Short-lived (2–3 years)
Did you know
- Rose campion has the most shockingly hot magenta flowers in the cottage garden—almost neon—against velvety silver-gray foliage that glows in moonlight like cool flame.
- Its species name 'coronaria' refers to ancient Roman use: the silver leaves were woven into garlands and laurel wreaths for festivals and victors' crowns.
- The name 'Lychnis' comes from the Greek 'lychnos' (lamp)—because the felted gray leaves were traditionally used as wicks for early Greek oil lamps.
- Rose campion is famously short-lived (2–3 years) but reliably self-seeds—a single original plant produces a colony that wanders the garden over decades.
- Charles Dickens grew rose campion at his country home Gad's Hill Place and mentioned it in his letters as 'the most cheerful of all my old-fashioned flowers.'
Color meanings
0
religion
1
hidden love
2
hot color