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Post by rowanberry on Aug 18, 2016 21:51:18 GMT
Saw this teasel growing alongside the playing fields near our house... a really nice, very tall one. I've not seen any of these growing there, so it will be interesting to see if they spread. The central (cone...head? not sure what it's called exactly) was the largest I've ever seen.   Aren't goldfinches supposed to like eating the seeds from these? |
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Post by NellyDee on Aug 19, 2016 9:51:25 GMT
I'd love to have teasel growing here. Yes goldfinches are said to love them.
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Post by Cotham Marble on Aug 19, 2016 11:28:04 GMT
At a guess this is one of the cultivars that are available, and usually called Fuller's Teasel to separate them from Common (wild) Teasel although I'm not sure how genetically diverse they actually are, Wild Teasel is Dipsacus fullonum (also Dipsacus sylvestris) and Fuller's Teasel cultivars are grouped under Dipsacus fullonum Sativus although there are more distinct species.
All teasels are attractive to Gold Finches which seem to value them over any other food source. Teasels are also good bee plants often providing flowers in the August lull between the high summer flowering and the Autumn bounce with Asters etc. Teasels readily germinate but do like to have some winter cold and wet - the seeds will often sprout from the seed heads left in situ; if taken semi ripe (now) the seeds may germinate in a moist seed compost and put on enough growth over the Autumn/Winter/Spring to produce flower heads next summer. Later germination will lead to flowering the following year removed.
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Post by NellyDee on Aug 19, 2016 15:48:36 GMT
Thanks CM I am going to see if I can find some wild ones and collect some heads. Failing that I might get a cultivar.
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Post by ayjay on Aug 19, 2016 16:25:46 GMT
Aren't goldfinches supposed to like eating the seeds from these? You rang, milady?   |
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Post by NellyDee on Aug 20, 2016 7:41:03 GMT
Lovely photo. A wonder that their little feet don't get stabbed by the teasel spikes.
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Post by accipiter on Aug 20, 2016 12:57:40 GMT
The problem with teasels is they spread like wildfire, one may view this as an excellent prospect but they can and do appear in the lawn and just about everywhere else too. But funnily enough my goldfinches do not like them at all much preferring the lavender.
Alan
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Post by hedera on Aug 21, 2016 16:08:13 GMT
You can tell the Fuller's teasel by the hooked bracts below each flower. The common teasel has spiked bracts. Fuller's type was used in the Stroud Valley woollen industry for raising the nap on the cloth woven there, and the plants still grow in that area. The flower heads were mounted into rollers. Strachan's Mill used to produce the white woollen cloth for the Pope, and tennis ball coverings. Other mills made red cloth for hunting jackets, called pink.
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Post by NellyDee on Aug 22, 2016 16:34:48 GMT
Thanks hedra, love it when I get extra bits of information.
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Post by rowanberry on Aug 22, 2016 20:26:24 GMT
I'm not sure it would grow in our garden, it's in shade most of the time. I think I'll leave them in the fields where the finches can find them if they want them. Great photo, Ayjay! |
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