Caucasian pincushion flower
Scabiosa caucasica · Dipsacaceae
Caucasian pincushion flower (Scabiosa caucasica) is catalogued by the USDA PLANTS database. USDA records it as hardy in zone 4 and warmer, down to about -23°F.
At a glance
| Mature height | 2.5 ft USDA |
|---|---|
| Light | shade USDA |
| Water need | medium USDA |
| Growth rate | slow USDA |
| Soil pH | 6–7.5 USDA |
| Bloom | March–April USDA |
| Flower color | Blue USDA |
| Hardiness zones | 4 and warmer USDA |
| Nursery availability | No Known Source USDA |
USDA quoted from the USDA PLANTS database · Derived computed by a fixed rule from those columns. No value on this page is estimated.
Growing conditions
It tolerates full shade. USDA rates it as having moderate water needs. It is recorded on soils from pH 6 to 7.5 — a broad range that spans acidic through mildly alkaline ground. Its cold limit is zone 4; USDA publishes no warm-end limit, so gardeners in warmer zones should check local heat tolerance separately.
Size and growth
At maturity it reaches about 2.5 ft, making it a low to knee-height plant. It grows slowly, which matters when you are timing a planting around the layers above it.
Bloom period
USDA records a bloom period of March through April. The flower color USDA records is blue. Bloom timing is how the Guild Builder overlaps flowering across a planting so something is in flower for as much of the season as possible.
Bloom period is a claim about when this plant flowers. It is deliberately not a pollinator rating — no dataset we trust publishes one, so we do not make that claim. See Data & sources.
Tags
Related plants
Similar role and hardiness
- Cottet willow Salix ×cottetii
Where this data comes from
Every value on this page comes from the USDA PLANTS database record for symbol SCCA21, or is computed from those values by a fixed rule. Nothing here is estimated or model-generated. Where USDA publishes no value, this page omits the claim rather than filling the gap.
bloom_end— quoted from USDA PLANTSbloom_start— quoted from USDA PLANTScommercial_availability— quoted from USDA PLANTSflower_color— quoted from USDA PLANTSgrowth_rate— quoted from USDA PLANTSmature_height_ft— quoted from USDA PLANTSmoisture— quoted from USDA PLANTSnitrogen_fixer— quoted from USDA PLANTSpet_safe— quoted from USDA PLANTSph_max— quoted from USDA PLANTSph_min— quoted from USDA PLANTSshade_tolerance— quoted from USDA PLANTStemperature_min_f— quoted from USDA PLANTSzone_min— quoted from USDA PLANTS
Read our full data sources and methodology.
Find more plants for your zone with the Plant Finder.