Annuals & Biennials

Limonium
sea lavender, statice

- Height 1-21/2 ft (30-75 cm)
- Planting distance 1 ft (30 cm)
- Flowers midsummer to early fall
- Ordinary well-drained soil
- Open, sunny site
- Half-hardy annual

Statice, or sea lavender, is perhaps more often seen in dried flower arrangements than in gardens. Its tiny bright yellow, purple, pink, blue, and white blooms provide an invaluable splash of color indoors in winter. The individual funnel-shaped flowers are tiny, but they are clustered together in spikes at the top of tall, stout stems. Flower spikes are accompanied by small midgreen lance-shaped and stem-clasping leaves. If you wish to dry statice, cut the stems before the flowers have opened fully, tie them in bundles, and hang them upside down to dry in a cool, airy, and shady place. Statice is best suited for growing in large clumps in herbaceous borders. Two species and their various cultivars are generally available.

Popular species and cultivars
Limonium sinuatum is a tender perennial species usually grown as a half-hardy annual. The 21/2 ft (75 cm) long stems carry 3-4 in (7.5-10 cm) long clusters of white or blue flowers surrounded by green bracts from midsummer to early fall. This is the most commonly grown statice, and the one used for drying. Popular cultivars developed from it include 'Beidermeier Hybrids' (12-15 in/30-38 cm high; white, rose, blue, apricot, yellow, and purple) and 'Formula Mixture' (rose, cream-yellow, light blue, and white). Limonium suworowii (now reclassified as Psylliostachys suworowii but still listed in catalogs as a statice) is a half-hardy annual grown for its cut flower - it is unsuitable for drying. The 11/2 ft (45 cm) high plants have tall, thin spikes of tiny rose-pink flowers.

Annuals
and
Biennials