Bachelor’s buttons – also known as cornflowers, brighten up gardens with their little frilly flower heads. Coming in different shades of purples, blues, magenta and some are even two-toned with a light lavender and dark purple.
At the local community gardens, I’m so grateful for those who include wildflowers with their fruits and veggies plantings. Along with the golden California poppies and Blue Flax wildflowers, there are lots of Bachelor’s Buttons too.
Truth be told, if it were not for the bees that go crazy on the Bachelor’s Buttons, I don’t know if I would have given them a second look to capture photos. But with my Velvet 56 lens, they photograph quite beautifully. They like a lot of sun and are pretty low maintenance so no wonder they flourish in the gardens.
Bachelor’s Buttons – Some Background Info…
Each flower I’m unfamiliar with or which is new to my photography repertoire, I like to do a bit of background research on.
According to wikipedia “ Centaurea cyanus, commonly known as cornflower or bachelor’s button, is an annual flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to Europe. In the past, it often grew as a weed in cornfields, hence its name.”
They are “Frilly, showy little flowers which grow on multi-branching stems. They may grow to about 2 to 3 feet tall. Bachelor button flowers are reseeding annuals and the blooms may be single or double.”
Bachelor’s buttons will also grow year after year as they will reseed freely. So they will continue to make a return appearance
These little guys also have indoor uses as cut or dried flowers. Once the flower is cut, it offers a long-lasting display in cut flower arrangements. They were often worn in lapels of courting gentleman of days past, hence the common name bachelor button.
It’s always interesting to learn about the history of flowers. I would never think it would be considered a weed. Then again more farmers are including wildflowers in their fields realizing the benefits to these bee-friendly flower havens. Yay for more places for pollinators!
Bees Stay Busy on Cornflowers
These frilly little flowers really do attract bees and the occasional ladybug too! Sitting down at eye level with the patches of flowers gives you such a great perspective to take photos.
With my garden pad AND little folding stool, I will take up residence for a while to both watch and photograph them. They move so quickly from flower to flower, it can be a matter of patience. On occasion, I will even get to see bumble bees doing their thing too.
One morning while photographing the bees, I noticed a ladybug perfectly placed on the base of a just opening bloom. Knowing how quickly these little orange gems can move, I snapped some photos. Fingers crossed that I got at least one. Given the photo below, I’d like to think I did 🙂
