Taraxacum Species, Pink Dandelion

I bought a pink dandelion seed pack from Baker's Creek in the spring last year. We sowed the seeds outdoors in pots, it was either late s...Read Morepring or early summer. They germinated fast (about 5 days) and were super easy to grow. Considering the fact that I basically just scattered the seed & then forgot about them I was pleased at the germination rate (ended up with 6 plants out of 15 seeds. We have a lot of birds & squirrels that root through the pots so I never expected them all to come up). We didn't get any flowers from any of the plants last year but they had good growth. I left the pots outside in the winter and they survived through a couple snow storms and total neglect. The plants took off in the spring and in early April this year they finally flowered for the first time. At first the blooms looked to be a very pale pink. They appeared almost white in bright sunlight. However after a couple days they turned a much deeper shade of pink. There is no denying the flowers are pink (with a yellow center) and I must say they really are stunning. Although they unexpectedly took a year to flower it was well worth the wait. My mom really likes them and wants to plant them around the property. I want to keep the existing plants in pots so they remain protected from the bunnies that stop by to munch on things in our yard, but we'll harvest seed from them this year to grow new ones in our flower beds.

I have been growing these for three years now. They are pink with a yellow center and come true from seed. The leaves tend to stay very...Read More close to the ground and I haven't ever had one grow tall like a regular dandelion can. So this year I am going to try them as a ground cover and see how they work. They have not been invasive, I have started all of mine on a heat mat and have never had a volunteer in my garden. The plants I started three years ago are still going strong. I think they are very cool.

I ordered seeds of this plant. The seedlings grew well and are very hardy, but, my flowers were NOT pink, they were pure yellow! I upload...Read Moreed an image of them to see, and my seeds were seperated so I know it was not wild stock that grew.

After harvesting the seeds, store in the fridge to keep them cool and in the spring they will germinate better. You can also start them i...Read Morendoors a month before last frost date, but they do poorly indoors if kept too dry, they like humidity, but not soil too wet.