Bachelor's Button Seeds (Centaurea cyanus)

Also known as Cornflower, Bluebottle, and Bleuette, Bachelor's Button is an easy-to-grow, self-seeding, cool-season annual with bright blue flowers that has been popular in America since colonial times. Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon offered it in five colors in 1804 -- purple, red, blue, white, and striped -- and Jefferson included "French pink bleuette" in an 1806 list of flowers. Jefferson-documented: This plant was documented by Thomas Jefferson in his Garden Book, Notes on the State of Virginia, or other writings.

Direct sow seeds outdoors several weeks before the last spring frost. Bachelor's Button tolerates poor soil but does not transplant well. Approximately 75-80 seeds per packet.