White campion

How to recognise it

Habit

Short-lived perennial, sometimes biennial; 30–100 cm tall, branched, with softly hairy stems that are glandular and slightly sticky near the top.

Leaf

Opposite, oval to lance-shaped, 3–10 cm, softly hairy; a loose rosette at the base.

Flower

White, 2.5–3 cm across, with five deeply two-lobed petals; open from late afternoon until the next morning and scented in the evening. Male and female flowers on separate plants.

Calyx

Inflated, hairy and glandular. In female flowers fat and rounded, with 20 veins and five styles; in male flowers slimmer, with 10 veins.

Fruit/Seed

Egg-shaped capsule that opens at the top with ten upright teeth; many small, grey-brown, warty seeds.

Confusion with

Red campion has pink flowers that are open by day and grows mainly along woodland edges; the two species hybridise easily into pale pink hybrids. Bladder campion has a hairless, strongly inflated, veined calyx and smaller white flowers.

Flowering: May–September · Pruning: March and July

Why grow it?

• Flowers from May to September and is scented in the evening: a nectar source for moths such as noctuids and hawkmoths.
• Moths of the genus Hadena pollinate the flowers and lay their eggs in them; their caterpillars eat the young seeds. A well-known example of a plant and a moth that depend on each other.
• White flowers stay visible at dusk: ideal for an evening garden by the patio.
• Attracts moths, which in turn bring in bats.
• Easy and drought-tolerant; self-seeds without becoming a nuisance.

White campion: where does it grow best?

• In the wild: road verges, field edges, dykes, railway banks, waste ground and rough grassland.
• Full sun to light partial shade, on free-draining, moderately fertile soil: sand, loam or chalky soil.
• Drought-tolerant; on wet, heavy soil it is short-lived.
• In the garden: a sunny border, the edge of a flower meadow, a bank or an evening garden by the patio.

Goes well with

• Honeysuckle: Another evening scent for moths; together they make an evening garden.
• Oxeye daisy: Large white flowers by day, on the same sunny bank.
• Common mallow: Pink flowers from June to September, for bees and bumblebees.
• Wild carrot: White umbels that also glow at dusk.
• Knapweed: Purple flower heads for butterflies and bumblebees in summer.

White campion: when and how to plant it?

1. Buy seed or pot-grown plants of native origin from a nursery specialising in wild plants.
2. Sow thinly in April–May or in September on open, loosened soil and cover the seed very lightly. It usually germinates within 2–3 weeks.
3. Plant pot-grown plants in March–April or September–October, 30–40 cm apart, in groups of three or more: that way you are sure to have both male and female plants.
4. Water in dry spells for the first few weeks; after that it is rarely needed.
5. Do not sow or plant it right next to red campion if you want to keep pure white flowers.
6. Never dig up plants from the wild: seed is cheap and establishes better.

Care

Water

Only after planting and in long dry spells. Too much water makes the stems floppy.

Feeding

Not needed; on poor soil it stays more compact and lives longer.

Cutting back

In July, cut half the stems back to 10–15 cm: they regrow and flower into autumn.

Self-seeding

Let the other half set seed. It lives only a few years, and seedlings take the place of old plants.

Support

On rich soil the stems sometimes flop; let them lean on neighbouring plants or add a few twigs.

Tip: Plant white campion close to a seat or patio and go and look on a warm summer evening: with a torch you will see the moths moving from flower to flower.

Pruning and mowing

Pruning months: March and July.

When: In July, cut part of the plant back for a second flush; in March, clear the old stems.

How:

• In July, cut some of the faded stems back to 10–15 cm above the ground.
• Leave the rest until the seed is ripe: the capsules rattle when you tap them.
• Leave dry stems over winter for insects and cut them in March above the new rosette.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

Harvest ripe capsules in August–September and shake out the seed. Sow at once or in spring.

Cuttings

In April–May, take young shoots of 5–8 cm from the base and root them in a mix of sand and potting compost. This way you keep a plant of the sex you want.

White campion: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −25 °C.

• Overwinters as a green leaf rosette; the flower stems die back.
• Dry stems and capsules stay standing and shelter insects.
• Hardy to about −25 °C; on wet soil the rosette may rot.

Diseases and pests

• Anther smut: A fungus turns the anthers purplish brown and makes plants sterile; moths carry the spores. Remove affected plants, roots and all.
• Seed-eating caterpillars: Caterpillars of Hadena moths eat the seeds inside the capsules. Leave them: it is part of the pollination deal.
• Slugs: They eat young rosettes in a wet spring. Protect seedlings for a while or sow in a drier spot.
• Short-lived: Old plants disappear after 2–3 years. Let some seed drop every year or sow again.
• Aphids: On young shoots in spring. Ladybirds and hoverfly larvae usually clear them up.

Through the year

• March: Cut back old stems. The rosettes start growing.
• April: Sow or plant. Take cuttings.
• May: First flowers; enjoy the scent in the evening.
• June: Full flower. After sunset, watch the moths with a torch.
• July: Cut half the stems back for a second flush.
• August: Harvest ripe capsules. Second flush on the cut-back stems.
• September: Sow. Last flowers.
• October: Planting still possible. Leave the stems standing.
• December: Dormant. Green rosettes at the base.

Did you know?

• Like humans, white campion has X and Y sex chromosomes: male plants are XY, females XX. That makes it a well-known model plant for research into sex chromosomes.
• Anther smut, a smut fungus, makes female flowers grow stamens and fills them with spores instead of pollen.
• White campion and red campion hybridise easily; where they grow together you often find pale pink hybrids.