Also called false saffron, this annual is native to south Asia but cultivated in China, India, Persia and Egypt for thousands of years. It is a member of the aster family, Asteraceae, that also includes sunflower, yarrow, and lettuce. Plants grow up to 3′ tall from a taproot and have a strong branching central stem often with spines and bearing waxy leaves with spiny margins. The lower leaves are ovate while the upper leaves are clasping and lanceolate to ovate. From summer to fall, 1-5 red, orange, or yellow globose flowerheads/branch appear. Each flowerhead is 1-1.5″ wide and is subtended by a cluster of leafy spiny bracts that gradually give way to the bracts of the involucre. Safflower has been grown for the use of it flowers as a source of dye and in cooking as false saffron, but is now grown primarily for the oil in its seed. The flowerheads add texture and color to both fresh and dried arrangements but the plants are generally not considered good garden plants. The genus name, Carthamus, may come from the Arabic word, quartom, meaning to paint and refers either to the bright color or the use of the flowers for dye. The specific epithet, tintorius, is the Latin word meaning relating to dying.
Type: Annual
Bloom: Flowerheads with yellow, orange, or red flowers from summer to fall
Size: 1-3′ H x 1′ W
Light: Full sun
Soil: Average, medium moist, well-drained
Hardiness: Not applicable; needs long growing season
Care: Low maintenance
Pests and Diseases: None of significance bu soil fungal diseases can be a problem if grown in the same soil for two consecutive years.
Propagation: Seed
Companion Plants: Group with other plants grown for their dye such as marigold, golden rod, artemesia, and bedstraw.
Outstanding Selections: Group with other plants that provide dyes such as
‘Golden Tuft’ (golden orange flower; 2-3′ tall)
‘Grenade’ (mixture of cream, yellow, and orange flowers; spineless stems)
‘Lasting Orange’ (spineless, 3′ tall)
‘Orange and Cream’ (cream to orange flowers, 2-3′ tall)
Tall Splendid Orange’ (yellow-orange flowers, 3-3.5′ tall)
Photo Credit Wikipedia