«Purple Queen» - Organic Milk Thistle Seeds
1.14 €
Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum) is an annual or biennial plant which belongs to the Asteraceae family. It is native to the Mediterranean region, but is now found throughout the world. It grows 30-200 cm tall, has red purple flowers.
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Organic Milk Thistle «Purple Queen»
Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum) is an annual or biennial plant which belongs to the Asteraceae family. It is native to the Mediterranean region, but is now found throughout the world.
It grows 30-200 cm tall, has red purple flowers and shiny pale green leaves with white veins. Milk Thistle has been used medicinally for over 2000 years for the support of liver and digestive health. This plant makes a great addition to the herb garden and does well in a dry, sunny spot.
How To Grow
Milk thistle is obviously a great herb to have around, and it’s fairly easy to grow. It grows to 3 – 4 feet tall, and features glossy, milky-white veined leaves and showy, purple summer flowers. All parts of the plant are edible, though its seeds are what contain that beneficial silymarin compound.
To grow your own, you’ll want to plant your seeds just after the last frost of spring. Sow them at a very shallow depth of about one-eighth of an inch, planting in groups of 3 to 4 seeds, spaced 30 to 36 inches apart.
The plants do well in both sunny and lightly shaded areas of a garden and will tolerate any type of soil, and even drought. If you want to start your milk thistle indoors, do so about two months before they’re due to be transplanted outdoors, also just after the last spring frost. It will take about three weeks before the plants start to germinate at a temperature of around 54 degrees to 59 degrees Fahrenheit.
They’re so easy to care for as they can tolerate dry and wet soil, so mostly, you can just leave them be and they’ll thrive. If they do become too weedy, deadhead the flowers before they set seed. The milk thistle flower contains as many as 190 seeds, with an average of 6,350 seeds per plant, and about 90 percent remain viable after harvest. If left untended, the seed heads will break on their own, making harvest impossible. If you plan to collect the seeds, do so before the plants fully mature.