Charming pink Catchfly flowers (and a handful of white) fill exuberantly tiered planters along a downtown street in Tirana, Albania, in May 2022.

Lychnis (Lychnis Viscaria Splendens Rosett) is a lower growing form of Lychnis which is easy to start from Lychnis seeds. Lychnis Viscaria Catchfly is known for exceptional hardiness, and it is tolerant of poor soils and little water.

The Catchfly plant (sometimes more mellifluously called None-So-Pretty) has foliage that is oval to oblong shaped with dark green leaves three inches long with sticky un-branched stems.

Lychnis Catchfly blooms from early to mid-summer with many rose-pink flowers that are 1 inch across. Often, the Catchfly flowers will remain through first frost.

The common name, catchfly, refers to the plant’s sticky sap, although the flowers themselves do not attract or catch flies.