Dense spikes of creamy white flowers over dark green foliage, closer to a miniature stock in appearance than to the fiery wallflowers most people picture. The colour is warm cream rather than cold white, which is why it glows rather than glares as the light fails on a spring evening.
The scent is different too. Where the gold and orange varieties are all clove and spice, this leans sweeter, honey and primrose, and it lingers in cool spring air.
Its practical use is lighting dark corners. Pale flowers reflect what light there is, so a group of these under a wall or a tree brightens a spot where most spring plants simply disappear. It is also one of the earliest substantial nectar sources of the year, which matters to queen bumblebees emerging from hibernation.
It is a biennial: sow in late spring or summer, grow the rosette through winter, flower it the following March to May. Nothing happens in year one. And all parts are poisonous if eaten.
