Cupid's dart
Catananche caerulea · Asteraceae
Lavender-blue flowers like cornflowers, each with a dark eye, rise on thin, wiry stems from papery silver buds that rustle when touched.
- Size
- 24 in tall, 12 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late June to late August
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Weaver
A bed built around cupid's dart
The planner designed this bed around cupid's dart when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why cupid's dart stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Cupid's dart × 5, blue
- 2 Winter heath × 6, pink
- 3 Sea thrift × 8, white
- 4 Stiff goldenrod × 8, yellow
- 5 Little bluestem × 3, blue-green leaves
- 6 Eastern prickly pear × 1, yellow
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 4, purple
- 8 Schubert's allium × 2, pink
Why this plant
- The only daisies. The others are bells, globes, flat plates and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only blue.
Why here
- In the middle. At 24 in it is the step between winter heath (10 in) in front and little bluestem (3 ft) behind: each is seen over the one before.
- 5 plants in 5 places. An accent is a punctuation mark: the repeat along the bed gives it rhythm.
- Fine leaf against bold. Stiff goldenrod is beside it: the strongest contrast of leaf there is.
Why now
- In flower for 9 weeks. From late June to late August.
- Fills a gap. For five of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as a cottage garden: 31 of the 31 plants (100%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. Stiff goldenrod and little bluestem anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there. Low plants run along 100% of the front edge: eastern prickly pear, sea thrift and winter heath.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where cupid's dart goes in a border
At 24 in it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium short (18 to 24 in). It is airy enough to see through, so it can also come forward and veil what is behind it.
Its job: weaver. A light, airy plant threaded singly between sturdier ones to knit the planting together.
It weighs nothing in a planting: the stems are almost invisible, so the flowers hover. Short-lived, especially in wet soil, but easily raised again from seed.
- Dried flowers
- Gravel gardens
- Threading through low grasses
What to plant with cupid's dart
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Blue fescue: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; low enough (10 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same dry soil.
- English lavender 'Hidcote': in flower together for five weeks, from late June; happy in the same dry soil.
- Sea holly: in flower together for seven weeks, from early July; happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about cupid's dart
Does cupid's dart need sun or shade?
Cupid's dart grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled.
What zones does cupid's dart grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does cupid's dart flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to late August. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Early July to late August |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late June to late August |
| Zone 6 | Late June to late August |
| Zone 7 | Late June to mid August |
| Zone 8 | Late June to mid August |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should cupid's dart be planted?
10 in (25 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 12 in (30 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 24 in (60 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many cupid's dart plants do I need?
At 10 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 17 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 13 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 55 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, threaded between sturdier plants.
In the bed above, the planner used five in five groups.
Is there a native plant like cupid's dart?
Cupid's dart is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Rocky Mountain columbine: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers late May to late June, wants average soil.
- Harebell: the same job in a bed, the same flowering time and the same colour; belongs at the front, not in the middle, 12 in shorter.
- Mexican hat: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 4 in wider, red or yellow, not blue.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after cupid's dart?
Cupid's dart is over by late August. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall.
- Sedum 'Autumn Joy': from mid August to mid October, 24 in tall.
- Autumn moor grass: from mid August to early October, 16 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does cupid's dart look like in winter?
Cupid's dart dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 24 in (60 cm) tall, 12 in (30 cm) wide
- Plant
- 10 in (25 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium short (18 to 24 in)
- Place in the bed
- Middle, or further forward: it is airy enough to see through
- Flowers
- Late June to late August; daisies; blue, lavender
- Leaves
- Fine texture, herbaceous; grey-green
- Shape
- Upright, self-seeding
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Asteraceae
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.