Variety Showcase: A Dainty Debutante

rbd21514-51Lychnis flos-cuculi ‘Petite Jenny’ is a dwarf form of the popular Blooms of Bressingham® variety Lychnis ‘Jenny.’ This double-flowered little beauty was discovered by Paul Gooderham at Bressingham in a patch of its parent, ‘Jenny.’ ‘Petite Jenny’ produces masses of large, fluffy, double flowers like ‘Jenny,’ but with a more diminutive habit.

The species goes by the common name “ragged robin,” but there’s nothing unkempt about ‘Petite Jenny’. An easy-to-grow, tidy little plant, it is suitable for any sunny or lightly shaded border and is also a good container candidate.

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Garden Performance

  • Mass of bright pink double blooms beginning in mid-May. Sterile blooms provide a longer flowering period
  • Erect, leafy flowering stems
  • Forms compact, bushy clumps just 14” tall with an 18” spread
  • Attracts bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and is deer-resistant
  • Ideal for containers, front of borders, informal cottage gardens and as cut flowers’
  • Sun or part shade
  • USDA Hardiness Zones 5 to 7; AHS Heat Zones 7 to 1

Trialed for Success

Plant one liner per quart or gallon pot in porous soil with good drainage. Grow evenly moist. A constant liquid feed of 75 to 100 ppm nitrogen is sufficient while actively growing. Do not overfeed during the flowering period, or flower stems will elongate too much. Supplemental lighting is not required. Finish plants in spring with night temperatures of 65 to 68oF (18 to 20oC). Growth regulators are not required. Vernalization is beneficial for best flower show, but is not required for flowering.

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Lychnis ‘Petite Jenny,’ from Blooms of Bressingham®,  is virus-negative and retains its more compact habit. Available from licensed propagators Green Leaf Plants®, Gulley Greenhouses, James Greenhouses and Pioneer Gardens.

Presented by Gene Pielin, product manager for Blooms of Bressingham®. For complete information and technical guide, visit BloomsofBressinghamPlants.com.

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