Armeria pseudarmeria 'Ballerina Red'

Cultivar selected from Armeria pseudarmeria, a species native to Portugal and the central-western Iberian Peninsula, belonging to the Plumbaginaceae family. The type species naturally grows on dry lawns, cliffs, and coastal and subcoastal rocky terrains, in conditions of intense exposure and poor, well-drained soil.

'Ballerina Red' forms a dense clump of broad linear leaves, more developed than those of Armeria maritima, of medium green, evergreen. The floral stems, robust and upright, reach 30 to 40 cm, making it one of the tallest thifts in cultivation. They bear generous globular heads, of a deep and sustained crimson red, particularly bright in full sun, surrounded by their collar of membranous bracts.

In its natural habitat, the type species blooms from May to July. In cultivation, 'Ballerina Red' blooms from May to August, with ample and prolonged flowering.

It requires full sun and very well-drained, light soil, without excess winter moisture. Due to the size of its heads and the intensity of its color, this cultivar brings a spectacular note to large-scale rock gardens, dry borders, and pot compositions exposed to the sun.