Bachelor's Button

Botanical Name: Kerria Japonica
Common Names: Cornflower, Dwarf Blend, Blue Boy, Black Magic, Blue Ball
Cultivation: Full sun with almost all types of soils
Bloom Time: Summer, Autumn
Colors: Pink, White, Light Blue, Blue Violet
Uses: Elegant in vase and other decoration purposes
Regions: Cold Nothern Regions of India, Africa, North America

Cultivating Bachelor's Button
Bachelor's Button is a very easily grown plant and succeeds in an ordinary garden soil. They can even be grown in walls. These flowers are usually self sowing. The leaves have a refreshing aromatic fragrance. The stem is upright, erect, hairy, finely furrowed and branching. Leaves are alternate, hairless, toothed, and divided into broad, lobed segments.

Drying Bachelor's Button
They have low moisture content and so they air dry very well. Pick the flowers when they are just about to bloom. Collect the flowers and make bunches. Bind each bunch at the bottom with string or rubber bands. Hang the bunches in a relatively dark, airy spot. A fan can be used to increase air circulation.

Uses
They are one of the easiest flowers to dry for everlasting arrangements and for beautiful winter decoration. The dried petals are used in potpourri in order to add color. The dried flowers are antipruritic, astringent, antitussive, weakly diuretic, ophthalmic, emmenagogues, very mildly purgative, and tonic. An infusion can be used in the treatment of dropsy, constipation, or as a mouthwash for ulcers and bleeding gums. The dried flowers and petals are used as a flavoring in cooking to give food a deliciously aromatic bitter taste. The dried flower buds are used as an insecticide.