Campion

Campion is a charming plant that enriches Danish gardens with its beautiful flowers and easy maintenance. This genus includes both night-flowering and day-flowering types, which attract attention with their colourful flowers and graceful growth. To achieve optimal growth, it is important to take the right soil and light conditions into account.

Campion thrives best in good-quality, well-drained, slightly moist soil. It can be grown in different soil types, including clay, sand or loam, but well-drained soil is essential to prevent waterlogging, which can damage the plant's roots. The soil pH should be neutral to slightly acidic. Campion thrives in ordinary garden soil and can do well in both sunny and lightly shaded areas.

When it comes to light conditions, it is important to distinguish between night-flowering catchfly and red campion, as they have different preferences.

Night-flowering catchfly (Silene noctiflora):
Night-flowering catchfly thrives best in sunny areas and is known for opening its flowers in the evening. It prefers well-drained soil and tolerates dry conditions. It flowers with small white to pale pink flowers that give off a pleasant scent in the evening.

Red campion (Silene dioica):
Red campion thrives in both sunny and lightly shaded areas. It is more adaptable and grows in a wide range of soil types. It flowers with distinctive pink or red flowers, and the plant is dioecious, which means that there are both male and female plants.

• Night-flowering catchfly (Silene noctiflora): Known for its pale flowers and evening flowering.
• Red campion (Silene dioica): A dioecious species with pink to red flowers.

Other campion species:

• Silene sylvatica: With beautiful pink flowers and a woodland habitat.
• Sea campion (Silene uniflora): Characterised by solitary white flowers and adaptation to coastal areas.
• Moss campion (Silene acaulis): A low-growing species with pink flowers and adaptation to alpine areas.

Campions are welcome additions to Danish gardens, and their colourful flowers attract pollinators such as bees and butterflies. Their versatility makes them suitable for different garden spaces and contributes to the natural beauty of the Danish landscape.

This guide is for guidance only. Landscaping and gardening is not an exact science, and a successful result can be affected by many variables, including (but not limited to): soil conditions, location, watering, temperatures, weather, application of fertiliser and mulch, and much more.