Adonis aestivalis seed

LATIN NAME: Adonis aestivalis

COMMON NAME: Summer Adonis

The Adonis opens its bright, bowl-shaped, scarlet flowers above the fine, feathery leaves, and the whole plant stands in the low, airy clumps. The low, upright, annual plant carries the finely divided, feathery, dark-green leaves and the solitary, bright, bowl-shaped, scarlet or crimson flowers with the dark centres through the early summer, one of the fine, bright sights of the border, each flower with the many narrow petals. The plant has a long record in the old gardens of the warm lands, and it is a fine, historic presence of the border. It is a plant of the open, sunny, deep, well-drained ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The Adonis is a curious subject of the plant science, and the scarlet bowls keep showing up in the work on the feathery-leaved annuals. The way the solitary, bright, bowl-shaped, scarlet or crimson flowers open above the finely divided leaves has been examined closely, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the feathery-leaved annuals, the early-summer flowers and the members of the buttercup family. The many narrow petals and the low, upright habit have also made it a fine study plant, and the Adonis is a regular subject of the work on the scarlet bowls of the early world.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The Adonis is a fine, bright plant of the border and the study collection. The solitary, bright, bowl-shaped, scarlet or crimson flowers with the dark centres open through the early summer, one of the fine, bright sights of the border, each flower with the many narrow petals, and the finely divided, feathery, dark-green leaves give the fine, airy clump of the plant. The whole plant is best kept for the border rather than the kitchen, and it is one of the fine choices for the border, the rock garden and the study collection. It has been written up in the horticultural and the botanical papers for the scarlet bowls and the feathery ways, and it is a fine, bright plant of the open, sunny, deep, well-drained garden.

Give the young plants the deep, well-drained bed, and the scarlet bowls will come in the first summer.

To grow the Adonis from seed, sow the small, brown seeds over the surface of the pot of fine, gritty soil, keep the pot in a bright, open spot and water gently, then set the young plants out in the open ground. The seedlings appear within a couple of weeks and grow on steadily. With the sun and the deep, well-drained ground, the scarlet bowls will open through the early summer.

According to Greek legends, this flower sprang from the blood of Adonis. Formerly used as a cardiac stimulant like digitalis but is much stronger. Brilliant crimson and black flowers in June-July.