Wild Garden Seeds - Wild Flower Fresh Yellow Rattle

10g @ £22

50g @ £80

100g @ £150

250g @ £360

500g @ £700

1kg @ £1360

Yellow Rattle - Fresh Seed - Now Available
August to December 2021.

Rhinanthus minor

Other Names: Rattle Box, Hay Rattle, Hay Shackle
Distribution: Widespread throughout Britain.
Habitat: Pastures, meadows and short turf.
Description: Native annual of medium height (up to 60cm) with golden yellow flowers from May to July.
Uses: Yellow Rattle is a useful plant to introduce when creating a wild flower meadow. It is semi-parasitic on the roots of plants, especially grasses, and once established will reduce the vigour of the original grass by up to 50%. It fixes its roots onto the root system of an adjoining grass, extracting water and minerals from it. All ancient meadows have this plant. Sow at the rate of 1g per square metre if combined with a meadow seed mix.

Sowing Instructions for Seeds: Yellow Rattle needs a period of cold to germinate successfully, so is best sown between August and December. Yellow Rattle is an annual and so if used in a meadow, it is best to cut the meadow after the rattle has had a chance to seed ie after the end of July.

If sown into an existing meadow, ensure that the grass is cut very short (an inch or less) and create areas of bare soil by scarifying, harrowing, raking etc. You should aim to expose up to 50% bare soil. Sow the seed onto this bare soil and ensure good contact by rolling or treading in.

Our seeds are of native British origin. Please note: small quantities of grass seed may also be present.

Fresh seed needs to be sown immediately and will have a higher success rate than seed which has been dried for longer.

Fresh seed is now available, ie from August to December 2021.

If you would like to order dry seed for delivery outside this period, please click on the link below to order dry seed January to July:

Dry Yellow Rattle Seed