I have a different cultivar of Lichnis in my front bed. Here in WI it blooms most of the summer. I do try to dead-head, to encourage re-blooming. I have very sandy soil, so it has excellent drainage, but I water the bed pretty often, so I have never thought of it as needing dry soil. It is actually a short lived perennial - not an annual. Mine has returned for the past 3 years, though it isn't as vigorous as it was the first year - time to start new ones I guess.

Same story here as Mandolls, except mine is probably plain old rose campion. I bought the seed originally decades back, but from a place that sold alot of species seed - wild stuff. Oh, and I guess I did buy a white blush cultivar later. Both varieties are still around, many descendants later. Sometimes I bother to gather the seed and broadcast it in new places, but mostly I just let it do its thing. Maybe the mulch issue was the problem, as you said.

what a nightmare... lol

your first clue.. ought to have been the full cup of seed... didnt that ring any warning bells??? ... lol...

i have had it for 30 years ...

i try to kill about 90% of the seedlings in spring as i round up the beds ...

and i often simply pull out ones i miss .. very shallow rooted ...

do NOT let them all go to seed ... or you will be giving cupfuls of seed away.. lol ...

as pods starts to mature.. just start pulling them out ... letting just a few go to seed ...

and that will be the last time you ever will need to plant them ...

they grown in my sand.. near the irrigation lines.. and not near any water...

and when you pull them out.. dont throw them in the lawn.. or they will sprout there ...

some of the seed... i do have 15 years of seed around... sprout in late summer.. winter over here in MI .... and thrive the next year... i wonder.. on some level.. if they arent a NEAR biennial ...

i know i make it sound bad.. but i did say i have had them going on 30 years ...

there is no other plant.. with that color fuscia flowers... plus the bonus of the silvery foliage ...

of my very long term plants.. they are akin to johnny jump up and balsam ... just nice to have around ...

good luck

ken

ps: i have no clue.. what i would do with a flat full .... maybe give away BAG fulls... lol ....

I have the white Lychnis coronaria with a pink eye, 'Occulata'. They come true and self seed in between paving, so that shows you the conditions they like. Some plants last several years so I would call it a short lived perennial or biennial rather than an annual. It likes sharp drainage and lean living. Personally, I enjoy it a lot and do not consider it a problem at all.

This is helpful. I knew that they seed prodigiously when happy. But in our humidity they also tend to rot out. I don't see them as a problem in my beds. I'll just be happy to find a place they are happy....I have heavy clay, that holds water for a long time...until it dries out to brick....and an irrigation system that my grass crazy hubby runs too much...you get the drift.