wildflower seeds yellow rattle Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) | Wildflower Seed
SKU: 273811620
wildflower seeds yellow rattle

wildflower seeds yellow rattle Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) | Wildflower Seed

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Description

wildflower seeds yellow rattle Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) | Wildflower SeedPlease visit our sister site British Wildflower Meadow Seeds if you want less seed than advertised here or if your intended purchases come to under our 100 basket minimum. Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) Seed Yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor) is an attractive, partly parasitic ("hemi parasitic"), annual wildflower of short grasslands. "Partly", because it photosynthesises. It's part of the Figwort family, and used to be widespread across the UK on

Please visit our sister site British Wildflower Meadow Seeds if you want less seed than advertised here or if your intended purchases come to under our £100 basket minimum.

Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) Seed

Yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor) is an attractive, partly parasitic ("hemi-parasitic"), annual wildflower of short grasslands. "Partly", because it photosynthesises. It's part of the Figwort family, and used to be widespread across the UK on mostly neutral soils. Although it's still found across the country, including in the Machair, it's now much less common. It's appearance is variable; we think there are at least 6 sub-species of it in the UK.

Once Yellow rattle is established it can reduce the vigour of many grasses by up to 50%, thus benefiting other sown wildflowers - check out our blog on how to grow and manage it. Once it dies back, each Rhinanthus plant leaves a space for wildflowers to fill too. It does need full sun, however, and even Yellow rattle will be shaded out by more vigorous grasses on fertile soil - it's not the key to all a meadow maker's problems. Having said that, it can work brilliantly in helping to bring wildflowers back into old pasture, although of course it doesn't of itself reduce soil fertility. Yellow rattle also has other unexpected results. For example, ribwort plantain has learnt to retreat away from it, so does tremendously well in swards with a lot of Rhinanthus in as it fills in the space it leaves behind. Clever things, plants.

Rhinanthus is a helpful plant for pollinators too, particularly bumblebees and butterflies, although honeybees find its slightly complicated flowers difficult to access..

Rarity

For obvious reasons farmers were never terribly keen on Yellow rattle, although it's apparently tasty for livestock. That said, as it is an annual it's easy to mow out before it sets seed (when it rattles) in July. This was traditionally time to cut the hay; hence its synonym, "Hay Rattle". Its seed has notoriously short viability - you must sow from this season's harvest. It will also disappear in thick, unmanaged sward. The seeds are small and the plants unable to compete with surrounding vegetation early on. Nowadays, silage cuts over the summer stop it from seeding at all. Needless to say, it's much less common than it used to be a hundred years ago.

Appearance

Yellow rattle seeds are light flat discs, designed to be wind blown. They germinate from January and the seedlings become evident in early March, so that they steal a march on the surrounding grasses. Be careful not to mow them out! Once they've got going they are easy to spot, however. The leaves have serrated edges, a bit like a nettle, and in seedlings look rather stiff. The flowers look a little like yellow snapdragons (or little cockscombs, apparently). They're very pretty. The plants grow to around 50cm tops.

Buying

Yellow rattle seed must be sown from summer to the year end, as it needs to be chilled to trigger its germination the following spring. We recommend adding the seed to a newly established meadow after its first season. As it doesn't last the seeds need to be as fresh as possible. It also reacts badly to being badly handled - it's tricky to process properly. You need to be careful where you source it from. Our Rhinanthus seed is freshly harvested from meadows in various locations around England. We have it tested once it has been harvested and cleaned to check on the seeds' viability, and require viability over 90%. 

Sowing Seed

The time to seed Yellow rattle is between harvest and the end of December. Like some other wildflower species, it needs to get cold to trigger germination - "vernalization". Sow by hand onto existing sward, at a rate of up to 1g per square metre. It's expensive stuff, so you might want to use a lower rate or just seed some areas and wait for it to spread. It's really important that the existing grass is cut VERY short before seeding and, if necessary, chain harrowed or scarified to get rid of any thatch. Ideally you should see 50% earth. The seeding rate is very low, so you might want to add sand or similar to bulk it out. Once sown, either walk or lightly roll in, or use livestock to tread in the seed and make sure it's in good contact with the earth.

Management

Yellow rattle is a plant of short grassland - if the grasses surrounding it are allowed to grow long and rank it won't be able to compete. Once you've taken a hay cut, typically from July to late August, it's important to keep the grass lightly grazed or cut (removing cuttings) over the winter. Stop cutting in March, or you'll chop the heads off the young seedlings!

Our Seed For Sale

We sell Yellow Rattle seed from 500g, and sell smaller quantities at our sister website: BritishWildflowerMeadowSeeds.co.uk.

The Rhinanthus minor seed we sell is freshly harvested and processed to avoid damage and low germination. We also test it and require at least 90% viability from our harvesters. We currently sell seed from sites in Somerset and Dorset, Shropshire and the Midlands. These sites are generally calcareous or neutral grassland.

We typically deliver from August to December.

We strongly recommend reading up on meadows before buying Yellow Rattle seed. Although our Rhinanthus seed has high germination rates, you need to be careful about initial care and establishing an annual regime. Don't be put off though - once you get the hang of it it's pretty straightforward, so long as you follow instructions!

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SKU: 273811620

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patricia aulabaugh
Birmingham, US
★★★★★ 5
Super soft
Color: Cypress, Size: King
Super soft and warm, very nice to sleep with
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Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2026
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MunchkinsMomsez
Pawtucket, US
★★★★★ 3
No cat claws allowed!
Color: Cypress, Size: Twin, Color: Cypress, Size: Twin
The quality of this set isn't the best. It you have a cat, a sharp claw or two will do visible damage! I actually clipped the loose threads off days ago, but there's still that double track of claw marks that will always be there. The pillow sham is also huuuge and looks awkward on a twin bed. It you have a large pillow it should be ok. The pillow sham isn't sewn together properly either, the fabric is bunched up where the seams meet. The comforter is pretty lightweight, so I will definitely be needing another blanket (or two!) with this one for winter. However, the set IS very soft, and it IS nice and cozy. The color in person is ok/does not look like photo advertised, as is, it would probably look nicer on a better quality set. The three stars is for comfort only. I will update this review after washing it a couple of times. Update: not even a month, and the fabric has ripped where the claw mark is. But, I have decided to keep it after all, if only for the comfort. Still not happy with the cost vs the quality. Latest update: added last 2 photos to show progression of wear. It does wash up well enough all considered. 3/31/24 Tears in the material (non-sherpa side) continue to appear. If you apply any type of tension to the fabric while making the bed, or just trying to pull the comforter over you when you roll over, you can hear the fabric tearing. I have found 6 tears to date.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2023
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John cromwell
Pawtucket, US
★★★★★ 5
Finally we BOTH can sleep comfy!
Color: 08 - Black, Size: Queen
So for years my boyfriend has always liked “jersey sheets” or “tee shirt” sheets or sheets made of flannel. He says he doesn’t like the feeling of cold “silky” feeling sheets as he’s always cold. I’m opposite and am always hot, and anytime we stayed in a nice hotel I looked forward to being able to sleep on cooler, taught, soft sheets for a couple of nights. I was able to deal with our old sheets but the issue we both hated was after awhile any sheet we got would get pilling. We even splurged and got a $60 flannel sheet which did the same thing forcing me to shave off these little annoying fuzz balls that make it feels like there is thousands of crumbs on the sheets. I also would wash our bedding once a week because the Jersey sheets seemed to “grow” as we move around in bed making it so the sheet was not taught and super annoying to lay on. The day I would wash them they would be comfortable but ultimately by the end of the week they would be almost hanging off our mattress. I ordered these sheets on a whim and got them the same day and immediately just threw out the jersey sheet and put this on (I didn’t even wash it, I know it’s gross but I was desperate for a comfy nights sleep and they came around 8pm) when I put them on I realized how soft and comfortable they felt. I also liked how the pillow cases are larger than most pillow cases that I have had in the past. We’ve been using these sheets for about a week and I love how I don’t wake up with my pillow popping out of the case anymore. The sheets have loosed ever so slightly since a week of sleeping but still are really taught and comfortable. They are cooler than flannel or fabric sheets and are initially cold when you first lay on them but I wouldn’t consider them “cooling” but they keep me from feeing extremely hot. They are way better than I ever would have expected for the price. I look forward to laying on them at the end of each day, even my boyfriend laid in bed the day I got them and said “wow I didn’t think I would like sheets like this, these are so soft!” And fell asleep immediately. We ended up ordering a second set in grey and the color is pretty. I still have yet to wash them, I usually use 2 tide pods when washing the bedding but I might get some fabric softener (as I hear it helps with pilling) to prevent the possibility of having that happen to these sheets in the future. I am hoping they hold up well after the wash and longer use. If they start to pill after wash, I will come back and update my review. Until then, I would highly recommend these sheets for the quality and the price point that they are offered at. Honestly, at this point even if they pill months from now I probably wouldn’t even be upset as long as they stay the same price I would just buy another set as they are just that comfortable and soft. UPDATE: So it has been about 3 months since I have purchase and used these sheets. They are still as soft as the day I first put them on. I’ve been washing them bi-weekly along with my comforter and pillowcases. I wash them with warm water using a combination of tide pods and added Downy fabric softener. They say to hang dry them in the description but I have been putting them in the dryer on medium and have been taking them out after around 20-25 minutes, they seem to dry extremely quickly. They have yet to have absolutely any pilling and also have not shrunk or stretched. Also I have a cat that is very active and also sleeps with me who enjoys kneading on my bed and I haven’t even noticed any signs of wear what so ever to the eye or to the feel. I highly recommend these sheets. I still have yet to even open the second set I purchased!
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Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2024
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Joy Joy
Lake Worth, US
★★★★★ 5
Happy With Our Purchase
Color: 07 - Charcoal, Size: King, Color: 07 - Charcoal, Size: King
When we opened the package the sheets were soft. We wash everything before we use it, so in these went. The sheets held nicely through the washing machine, the edges stayed sewn up and the sheets are still fluffy. The sheets fit nicely on our bed and have a nice cooling effect in this 80-degree weather. We think these sheets were a quality purchase that was affordable.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2026
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Marcus
Whiting, US
★★★★★ 5
Honest Review
Color: 25 - Burgundy, Size: Queen
Very good product, I would highly recommend it. It is soft and keeps you cool throughout the night. I am someone who burns hot all day and night so these sheets have been a great purchase so far as I can tell. I got the red ones and they are very nice and pleasing to the eye. The quality of the sheets is high and not to bad for the price considering other products. It’s not very elastic so make sure you purchase the right size. You get 2 pillow cases and 2 sheets. The sheets seem pretty durable as well which is nice.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2026

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