Yellow Rattle Rhinanthus Minor
Yellow Rattle Rhinanthus Minor. An essential pre-cursor to the establishment of any wild flower meadow.   The plant is hemi-parasitic gaining its nutrients from its own roots, but notably from adjacent grasses and thus weakening them, increasing biodiversity by restricting grass growth and thereby allowing other species to thrive. The plant reaches 25-50 cm tall, with opposite, simple leaves, with serrated margins and attractive yellow flowers. The varieties name comes from the seed pods which rattle when ripe.
CULTIVATION ADVICE Yellow Rattle Rhinanthus Minor
- Needs to be broadcast sown on an area with established grasses which have recently been cut short and the surface scarified.
- Sowing rates 0.5gm to 1gm per m2
- This is an annual therefore best sown in late autumn or early spring before the last frost.
- The grassed area should not be mown / cut until the seed pods have dried in late summer.
- This is an annual and a late summer cut is needed to spread the seed for the following year.
