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Dove Pincushion

Scabiosa columbaria
Also known as: Pincushion Flower, Small Scabious, Dove Pincushion, Pigeon Scabious

Dove Pincushion is a flower in the Caprifoliaceae family. It grows best in full sun with medium moisture, and is listed for USDA zones 4-9. Plants reach maturity about 91–105 days after planting and sit about 6 inches apart.

Varieties

1 from True Leaf Market · sorted by days to maturity
  • ▸Blue Note91–105 days

    Non-GMO; Container

    Blue Note is a compact, dwarf scabiosa (Scabiosa columbaria) producing rounded, pincushion-style blooms about 2 inches across in soft shades of lavender, purple, and thistle-blue. This hardy perennial flowers over a long summer season on tidy, mounding plants and is well suited to borders, containers, and cut arrangements. It is easy to grow and attractive to bees and butterflies.

    View on True Leaf Market ↗
Family
Caprifoliaceae
Category
Flower
Form
Stalk
Lifecycle
perennial
Zone
4-9
Height
1–1.3333333333333333 ft
Spread
0.8333333333333333–1 ft
Sun
Full sun

Plant spacing

4 plants per square footSquare-foot planting diagram: a 1-foot square divided into a 2-by-2 grid holding 4 dove pincushion plants spaced 6 inches apart.
4 plants per square foot

In a square-foot bed, space dove pincushion about 6 in apart — that fits 4 plants in each 1-foot square (2×2). Wider rows or containers space the same.

Water
Medium

Plan your dove pincushion planting

Add dove pincushion to a free GardenDraft plan and get sow, transplant, and harvest dates computed for your ZIP code — with a drag-and-drop bed layout and reminders when it’s time to plant.

Start your free plan →

At a glance

Days to harvest
91–105 days
From transplant or sow to first harvest
Harvest style
Harvest once
One main harvest
After harvest
Use within days
Quality eases off after peak
Frost tolerance
Hardy · to ~20°F
Lowest temperature the foliage usually survives
Germination
~55%
Typical minimum germination rate

Growing timeline

When to plant and harvest dove pincushionPlanting timeline for dove pincushion, relative to last frost: start indoors from 9 weeks before last frost to 1 week after last frost; grow from 1 week after last frost to 14 weeks after last frost; harvest from 14 weeks after last frost to 16 weeks after last frost.Start indoorsGrowLast frostTransplant
Start dove pincushion indoors ~10 weeks before transplanting 1 week after last frost; first harvest 14 weeks after last frost.
Seed to transplant
56-70 days
Outdoor planting
7 to 14 days vs frost
Propagation
Seed
Schedule anchor
Last Frost

Care & troubleshooting

No curated care & troubleshooting advice for dove pincushion yet. Our extension-sourced library currently focuses on common edible crops; we're expanding it over time.