Rosebay Willowherb (Fireweed)

[rook66]

I Propogated this plant by sowing bits of root and this worked great, I got good strong reproductions with millions of seeds blowing everywhere, however the seeds did'nt reproduce true, just a variation of the original. They had only a fraction of the flowers, nothing like the spearhead of flowers of the parent.
Is there a botanist on the forum

 

[BeeJayBee]

You've got two forms of reproduction there - vegetative from root cuttings which will be true to the parent plant, and seed which will have been cross pollinated. If you want more of the same you'll need to take more root cuttings or split parent plants.

It's a bit of a plant thug though.

 

[tonybloke]

try burning off the vegetation before seeding
(it's not called 'fireweed' for nothing)

 

[mbc]

try burning off the vegetation before seeding
(it's not called 'fireweed' for nothing)

nature vs nurture sprung to mind

 

[victor meldrew]

Yep ,burn off the old pasture fireweed love potash!
Make sure you aren't seeing natural seeding of 'great willow herb ', it has fewer flowers and isn't half as attractive to bees as rosebay willow herb!
VM