White Campion Seeds (Silene alba)

White Campion (Silene alba) is a soft, slightly hairy perennial that grows 30 to 60cm tall and carries pure white flowers with five notched petals from May right through to October. It is a plant of roadside verges, hedgerows and field margins, where it stands out against the greens of early summer and keeps going long after most of the sward has finished.

The flowers open fully in the evening and release a clove-like scent, which makes White Campion a valuable plant for night-flying moths as well as the bees that visit by day. It is a short-lived perennial that sets plenty of seed, so it tends to come and go in a meadow, colonising gaps and disturbed edges rather than forming a permanent stand. Grown near Red Campion the two will cross, giving occasional pink-flowered plants.

It is happiest on well-drained soil in partial shade or light sun, and copes with the drier, slightly disturbed ground found along hedge bottoms and lane sides. Avoid waterlogged sites and dense shade. It is a good choice for a hedgerow margin, a shady bank, the edge of a garden meadow or a rough corner that is left alone.

Sow in spring onto bare or scarified ground, surface-sown and firmed in, and keep fertility low. Germination is quick and some plants will flower in their first summer, with the best display in year two. Cut in late autumn once seed has dropped and remove the cuttings. Combine with our 100% wildflower mixes or single species that share the same lightly shaded, well-drained conditions.