Bachelor's Button (Cornflower) in Zone 11a & 11b

Centaurea cyanus

When to plant bachelor's button (cornflower) in zone 11b

Zones 11a and 11b share the same average frost dates in our data, so this page covers both.

Method: Either: Start indoors for an earlier harvest, or direct-sow outside for less fuss. Bachelor's Button (Cornflower) tolerates either.

Start indoorsNov 13–Nov 20
Direct sow / transplant outsideDec 18–Dec 25
Estimated bloomMar 3 '27–Mar 10 '27 (~75 days after planting)

Spacing: 3 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 1-3 ft.

Bachelor's Button (Cornflower)
Photo: Roman Eisele via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Bachelor's button (also sold as cornflower) is about as low-effort as annual flowers get. It tolerates cold better than most, fills in fast, and doesn't ask for much once it's in the ground. Wiry 1- to 3-foot stems carry small, fringed, frilly round blooms, most often blue, though pink, white, and maroon show up in mixes too.

How bachelor's button (cornflower) fits zone 11's season

Zone 11b is frost-free in this dataset, so frost is not what limits the calendar here. What you can plant, and when, comes down to summer heat and daylength instead.

Good companions

No standout companions recorded yet for Bachelor's Button (Cornflower).

Where to buy bachelor's button seeds

See why we recommend these suppliers →

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Some links on this page also go to other retailers we may earn a commission from as an affiliate, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products with a genuine consensus of positive, independent reviews. See the sources cited on each item.

See it growing

Search YouTube for "growing bachelor's button (cornflower)" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)

← Back to the full zone 11b calendar · Full companion planting guide · Full plant profile · Plan your beds in the Garden Designer →

Growing Bachelor's Button (Cornflower) in USDA zone 11b

Pin this for later

Growing Bachelor's Button (Cornflower) in USDA zone 11b: when to start seeds indoors, when to direct-sow, and when to expect a bloom.

Save to Pinterest