Bachelor Buttons (or Bachelor’s Button) are blooming in my field of dreams next to my Potting Shed.
In the southeastern United States, Bachelor Button can be found growing in meadows and fields, is drought-tolerant, self-seeding and therefore aggressive. Here in North Carolina, it’s considered a noxious weed and growing it is prohibited since it quickly displaces other grasses, crops, and native wildflowers.
Also known as Blue Bottle, Blue Bonnet, Blue Bow, Blue Cap, Cornflower, Boutonniere Flower and Basket Flower, this wildflower is easy to grow in many soil types and is native to Europe.
I gathered some old blue bottles for vases for this Blue Bottle flower in my Potting Shed. . .
I’m doing my part to prevent the flowers from going to seed one bloom at a time.
I have a ways to go ;)
Aggressive and noxious weed or not, it gives me a thrill to see the waves and drifts of Bachelor Buttons blooming this time of year.
Blue is the rarest color in the garden and making blue flowers a favorite color of many gardeners and flower lovers.
If you grow your own Bachelor Button from seed (those of you not in North Carolina) or harvest some that are grown organically and pesticide free, the papery petals are edible and can be used as a pretty salad garnish.
I’ve never eaten any I’ve picked since the field is sprayed every spring, but they’re said to have mild and peppery clove flavor.
May all your weeds be wildflowers!
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Metamorphosis Monday
OMG these are wonderful! I didn’t know they bloomed so early, but really enjoyed your arrangements with blue and white and blue bottles. Thanks so much for sharing these wonderful shots.
Blue is a fleeting color in the garden..but not in the fields..that is so true…your blue display with the green in the window is very calming!! The blue in my gardens are Lavender…and they smell good..again, beautiful display and good info!! 💙💙💙💙
Stunning!
A few of these crop up in my beds in Maine each year. I had no idea what they were but was always glad to see them. You have made them even more beautiful with your presentation.
We call them cornflowers here in England. My daughter’s friend has her own tea blending company & uses cornflowers in some of her teas. It looks very pretty& tastes nice. I put it on the top of my plant pots after use. I am new to your blog love your photos- the first one is stunning.
Beautiful…I love blue flowers, bottles, dishes!!! I keep saying as we pass fields of bachelor buttons that I am going to stop and pick me some!
I love that noxious weed!….You made it a star on the beautiful stage of the potting shed with the most gorgeous props! I gasped when I saw the shears in the blue and white dish…how so creative and had to chuckle too….These photos deserved a new board on my pinterest….and gotta share this beautiful post! I so love seeing a field of blue!
Yes, you have a ways to go to cut away all those lovely bachelor buttons, dear Mary! Thank you for sharing the blue field of loveliness with all of us. I never knew that they were considered a weed. They look like swaying sea of blue beauty to me. I remember growing them from seed when living in Ohio. Your display in your potting shed withnyour blue and white dishes, enhances their sweetness. Enjoy them while you can!
Lindo demais! Maravilhoso!
So dainty…they look lovely with the window framing them. What a nice way to start my day. Thank you.
Oh my goodness, I love love love the blues!!!
How pretty! I wonder if they’d grow here as aggressively. I’m always looking for drought tolerant flowers.
I was just looking at one of those at the garden center yesterday! Glad I read this before I bought it, because I had no idea they were so aggressive . They are very pretty though!!!
Stunning display. I love bachelors buttons. Growing up my parents had a huge vegetable garden. Around the perimeter my father would plant rows of cosmos, zinnias, marigold, four o’clocks and bachelors buttons. He would save the seed from year to year. I miss that. Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures, it brought back such happy memories.
I love wildflowers. God made them to enjoy and not to label them as weeds. Thank you Mary for showing us your beautiful flowers. They made my day.
Beautiful! Love your displays!
Thii post made me Blue!💙
Beautiful and always heartwarming; never a disappointment ♡
It is hard to believe something so beautiful is considered to be a menace. Thanks for sharing their beauty
Mary, as they say, a weed to some is a beautiful flower to others. It’s oxalis in my garden that continually pops up in my beds. I pull it up, but it’s not a battle I’m winning. ‘-) Some plant centers sell, so there you go.
I’ve always like bachelor buttons, but have not grown them. Your field of blue is a happy sight. Thanks for sharing its beauty. Love the vignettes in the garden shed. So clever with the vintage garden shears.
Wow, what a colorful meadow! I have always had a fondness for bachelor buttons due to their true blue coloring. You do know how to show them off beautifully, Mary.
How can something so pretty be a noxious weed, it’s just not fair!! Nature’s irony, those fields of swaying blooms are breathtaking Mary. Your blue blooms bursting in your Potting Shed are doing a happy dance in all those pretty blue bottles and garden goodies, such a delight to see :)
Jenna
So lovely and it goes perfectly with your blue dishes!
Just out of curiosity, what do you spray the field for? Are you using it for hay?
I am exploring options for a wildflower / butterfly habitat field, and not sure if I’ll have to plow everything under first. I would love to be able to pick flower garnishes!
Hi Susie, it’s not our field so I don’t know what they use to spray it with but they do cut it for hay and bale it twice a year :)
What a fabulous post! Your photographs look like paintings! I’m absolutely mad about anything blue!
By the way, your header is out of this world!
Nancy
xo
I have loved Bachelor Buttons since I was a child! They grew wild on my Grandmother’s fields of her farm in Pa. I also remember some pink and dark purple too. We were allowed to pick them and have vases of them at her house and everyone else who knew us! I’ve never seen them wild here in R.I. Yours are beautiful-an invasive weed?! I’ve never heard that. Thank-you for reminding me of wonderful days long gone. Your photos are terrific as always- you brighten every day. Especially love the tree!
It concerns me when you say your field is sprayed every year – are you using anything to endanger bees and other pollinators? Your pictures are beautiful as always!
It’s not our field! I’d prefer they didn’t spray it too…
So pretty, so dainty, so whimsical. HOW can these be considered a weed!!!!!!!
My grandmother grew these every spring in a bed around a tree in her yard….they are a favorite childhood
memory.
Really nice vignette. I collect cobalt blue glass, so it’s especially nice to see your display with the corn flowers. and lovely dishes.
I have always loved these sweet flowers, especially for their bLUE color! Now I hear they are a WEED? That is sad. I may just try to grow some this year, here in Pa.:):)
I have always loved them and used to pick them (as well as wild daisies) from the fields near where we lived in SC…
Beautiful post…Let’s hear it for all the blue lovers!
…and Happy Birthday, Mary!
Just lovely! Adore that color blue, and so charming in the blue bottles! I’m originally from the Bucks County, PA area, and at this time of the year, we had meadows filled with daffodils like your blue beauties…also just beautiful!
Wow, that field is gorgeous Mary! G-Mom-B always planted some Bachelor Buttons, I think she liked adding the blue to cut flowers:@) Enjoy!
Just beautiful pictures, I love blue everything, thank you so much!!!!!!!!!
So interesting to know BBs are considered as such in NC – thanks for that info. I don’t grow those, but I do have Mountain Bluet, a variation of that, in my perennial garden. I love blue in my garden, and have it below my clematis & Rosanne geraniums, all similarly hued.
I love bachelor buttons. In 6th grade, we had to do a report on native or wild flowers. I fell in love with them then. I planted a few seeds 40 years later(2012) and enjoying seeing their beautiful color pop up wherever they please every year here in tidewater Virginia.
THAT IS the MOST beautiful BLUE!! franki
Mary, Your field and your photos are amazing. The wave of blue must be so beautiful! I hope the other wildflowers still come in after these are finished. I checked to see if our state lists them as invasive and I don’t see them. You are so right about how hard it is to find blue flowers! I was looking at one of your sidebar links for Derby Day and am now wondering if the neighboring horses are still near your field? Thank you for all this beauty! It is much appreciated. Linda
Very pretty Mary. Love them, the dishes and the pretty blue bottles – how fitting. Also really like Queen Anne’s Lace – it’s still considered a weed here by many, but I do let it grow in my cottage flower bed. The Queen Anne’s lace looks very pretty with the periwinkle balloon flowers and pink cone flowers and Pinks — also less weeding – ha.
Been out of bandwidth but they let you sneak in time from midnight to 4 am so caught up visually with my sleep deprived comments, enjoying your garden so much, from bachelor’s to your fun aqua floral table loving your color pops!
Charming :)
Haven’t seen Bachelor Buttons where I live in Virginia–they are quite pretty especially since they are blue. Love the arrangement you made with them in the cobalt blue glass.
Oh, they are beautiful!! I have raised them before! (These were seeded in SD) They are quite hardy!! And what a thrill to watch them grow!
I never knew that bachelor buttons could be used as a salad garnish. They would be pretty with the oranges of some salads (with carrots, oranges, etc…) Pretty post as always, Mary!
MY GOSH, we won’t see bachaelor buttons for 2-3 months yet…They don’t bloom here until July. The blogging world has certainly taught me more about horticultural zones than any gardening book I have ever read. We even had a bit of sleet today…UGH!, Thanks for the beauty from barren Chicagoland, LOL, Sandi
I’m singing your blues :-)
Are these photos open for public use? I’d love to save them!
Hi, You’re welcome to Pin them or share with the sharing buttons at the bottom of the post. :)
Never would have thought of them being a noxious weed! They are such a beautiful color and with the blue and white dishes (my very favorite-I have three different sets!) they are even prettier. Love all of these photos.
Always love your blog. Thanks so much.
So much to love! Cobalt color! An Art Nouveau favorite!