Rose Campion

Rose campion is an erect, many-branched biennial (or short-lived perennial) with softly wooly silver-gray leaves and stems. The plant gets 2-3 ft (0.6-0.9 m) tall with a spread of 1-2 ft (0.3-0.6 m). The leaves are in opposing pairs on the stem and oval shaped; basal leaves have petioles (leaf stems) and are 4-6 in (10.2-15.2 cm) long; stem leaves do not have petioles and are smaller, 2-4 in (5.1-10.2 cm) long. In the second year of growth, rose campion blooms with a profusion of long stemmed rose-pink or purple (rarely white) trumpet shaped flowers a little more than 1 in (2.5 m) across and just as long. The flowers open one at a time and last only a day, but do so over a long blooming period in the spring and summer. Rose campion also may bloom in its first season, but usually not as profusely. By its third season, rose campion already is declining, but new seedlings keep the lineage going.