Honeywort Cerinthe Major Purpurascens is a tender perennial native to the Mediterranean region. Honeywort seeds are very easy to grow, and the plant is generally treated and grown as an annual. Other common names of this plant are Blue Shrimp Plant, Blue Wax Flower, Blue Kiwi, and Pride of Gibraltar. Honeywort has attractive gray-green foliage with oval, eucalypt-like leaves that turn themselves to dark-blue bracts at the top of the plant creating a striking background for protruding clusters of purple-blue tubular, nodding flowers. Blue Shrimp Plant blooms all summer and well into fall producing sweetly scented, rich in nectar flowers that are highly attractive to honeybees and hummingbirds.
Honeywort makes a fantastic, unique-looking border plant and is a wonderful choice for containers or pots. Cerinthe Major Purpurascens seeds have to be covered with soil and kept moist until germination, and Honeywort grows best in full sun or partial shade, and fertile, moist, well-drained soil tolerating drought and heat. Honeywort makes a memorable, somewhat exotic in appearance cut flower. Blue Wax Flower re-seeds itself freely, so it will show up year after year in any hardiness zone.
PLANT PROFILE
Season: Perennial/Annual
Height: 18 Inches
Bloom Season: Summer/Fall
Environment: Sun/Partial Shade
Soil Type: Rich, Moist well-drained, pH 5.8-7.2
USDA Zones: 7-10 (As Perennial) All Regions of North America (As Annual)
PLANTING INSTRUCTIONS
Sow Indoors: Spring (6-8 weeks before last frost)
Sow Outdoors: Spring
Seed Depth: 1/8 Inch
Germination Time: 14-21 Days
