Silene coronaria - gardening in mediterranean climates worldwide

mullein pink, rose campion, crown pink, dusty miller, my burning heart, bloody Mary, bloody William • Catalan: pessiganassos • French: coquelourde coronaria, coquelourde des jardins, siléne coronaire • Ελληνική (Greek): λυχνίς • עברית (Hebrew): להבית עטורה • Italian: crotonella coronaria • Portuguese: beijo de freira, candelària dos jardins, coronària, lìcnis, moleiro-farinhento, moleiro-rosa, orelha de lebre, picanariz • Spanish: candelaria, clavel lanudos, coronaria, guantes de reina, oreja de gato, rosa de Grecia • Arabic: لُخْنيس اكليلي

Native from Pakistan, Central Asia, Caucasus, Western Asia, Southern and Western Europe, now cultivated worldwide with occasional naturalization in some areas.

Synonymy : Agrostemma coronaria L. 1753 (basionym); Coronaria agrostemma Lilja, 1843; Coronaria coriacea Schischk. ex Gorschk., 1936, nom. illeg.; Coronaria coronaria (L.) Huth, 1893, nom. illeg.; Coronaria tomentosa A.Braun, 1843; Lychnis coriacea Moench, 1794, nom. illeg.; Lychnis coronaria (L.) Desr. 1792

Usually listed as a biennial plant, this definition blurs in mediterranean climates. Growing easily from seed with the fall rains, the tuft of soft gray-green leaves gains in size through the winter, gradually giving way to upright stems of bright carmine, rose, or white flowers in spring. If left to its own, these will produce interesting, upright, chalice-like pods, opening at their top and distributing the small dark seeds with even a casual brush of the stiff stems. It may also die in the effort. When an effort is made to remove spent flowers and their developing pods, the bloom is easily extended into summer and possibly extending its life another year. But in any case, there should always be a few seedlings to replace the original plants.

The old genus name, Lychnis, means lamp, alluding to the use of the felt-like leaves as lamp wicks by the ancients. So this plant has been known for centuries and was often cultivated close at hand for the above purpose (though I expect the showy flowers were always welcomed). It has naturalized modestly in various places of the world likely due to this use.

The alternative name, Dusty Miller, is also applied to several several other, otherwise unrelated plants with fuzzy, gray leaves.

In winter it consists only of the large wooly basal leaves are bluish-white in color. These very much resemble Lamb's Ears, but thinner and with slight undulations. In spring it sends up furry-leafed stalks to three feet tall which by late May have begun to produce the brightest crimson to rose-pink blossoms. The leaves of the stems are tiny compared to the basal leaves.

I'd just like to share an observation and make a recommendation. Quite by accident, I've discovered that Rose Campion makes a wonderful foliage plant for dry shade. In my garden, it outperforms the similar-foliaged Stachys byzantina in this situation, has (to my mind) a more attractive form, and requires less supplemental watering.

It has self-seeded under my deciduous fruit trees, and looks good year-round. It competes well with tree roots and will grow right up next to the trunks of the trees.

The ever-gray clumps have endured for several years and more appear every year. Although it flowers less in this situation than in full sun, the foliage alone makes it worth the minimal effort it takes to establish.

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The confusion about the lychnis may stem from how we in the West percieve the idea of a wick as being part of a candle, where in the East that is not always the case. In Greece, devotional lamps are filled with olive oil and the wicks are floated on the oil. A wick made from a plant (there are other kinds, too) has a skirt of leaves that keep it afloat, and part of the stem below to feed oil to the upper part. When lit, it creates a small 'perpetual' flame.

Greeks use the word lychnari [λυχνάρι] to mean this type of lamp. They are still used today, mainly in small roadside iconostasis memorial shrines-or in households when the power goes out!

I have several oil lamps from Yemen, and these are also used with oil. The alabaster ones may be hung, and the illumination from the circle of wicks can keep a room dimly lit.

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