Black Ball is a double flowered plant with beautiful, attractive, chocolate brown almost black flowers on light-green stems and surrounded by thin, long light-green foliage. Very well suited for any garden, wild garden, as a cut flower and cud weed and to grow in pots and containers. Deadhead the flowers to prolong flowering. Very attractive to bees and butterflies. Annual. Height: 90cm.
Indoor sowing: March - April
Outdoor sowing: May - June
Germination: 5 - 10 days
Germination temp.: 15 - 21 °C
Sowing depth: 1 - 1½ cm
Sowing distance in rows: 8 - 15 cm
Plant distance: 25 - 30 cm
Plant position: sunny with some shade
Flowering period: June - September
Sow indoors in a warm room or a propagator from March till April. Keep the temperature as constant as possible. Don't let the temperature drop during the night. Sow in trays filled with moist potting soil. Sow thinly and cover with a layer of soil of approx. 1 cm. Cornflowers are dark germinaters. Keep moist and warm during germination. Cover the trays with a lid or clingfilm to retain the moisture. The seedlings emerge after approx. 5 - 10 days. Remove the lid or clingfilm when the seedlings emerge.
Transplant the seedlings to seperate pots when they're large enough to handle. Harden them of for approx. 10 days during the day on a sunny and sheltered spot in the beginning of May. Plant them after this period on a sunny plot with some shade and free draining soil in the middle of May, when there's no longer any danger of nightfrosts. Keep 25 - 30 cm apart.
Sow outdoors in a well prepared seedbed from mid May till June, when there's no longer any danger of nightfrosts. Sow thinly in rows about 8 - 15 cm apart and cover the seeds with a layer of soil. Cornflowers are dark germinators. Press gently and keep moist and weedfree. After approx. 5 - 10 days the seedlings will emerge. Thin them to 25 - 30 cm apart, when they're large enough to handle. Cornflowers can grow on any soil, but they need a sunny plot with some shade. They have a good tolerance to drought and don't need a lot of water.
