Bachelor's Button Seeds ( Centaurea cyanus )
Bachelor's Button is a handsome, sun-loving annual flower that has been popular in America since colonial times. Bernard McMahon offered it in five colors -- purple, red, blue, white, and striped -- and Jefferson included Bachelor's Button in an undated list of flowers. Also known as Cornflower and Bluebottle, this annual is easy to grow and is very tolerant of poor, dry soils. Sow directly outdoors in spring or early summer. Bright blue flowers on twenty-four-inch stalks. Approximately 75-80 seeds per pack. Line Drawing from New Britton and Brown Illustrated Flora by H. A. Gleason (1958) .