Imagine my surprise when I opened my Feb/Mar issue of Birds and Blooms and found an article on growing safflower. I had never even thought of it before, but it sounds like an interesting thing to do. This article said they don't grow as quickly as sunflowers.

I'm curious if you can start these indoors ahead of planting time outside? The B&B article mentioned a taproot and I thought the root might preclude planting early.

Any ideas?

That same article is what spurred my interest! Sounds like they come up easily if they are sprouting under bird feeders. I'm wondering how much shade they can take, and if they are fairly self-sufficient. Maybe that long tap root helps there. I have to do prickly plants out of the way, which means they don't get watered regularly.

I saw the article as well! Can I just buy safflower seed like I would get to use for feeding birds and plant that?

Based on the amount of sprouts we find under our two bird feeders (we feed exclusively safflower seeds, usually purchased at Lowe's, our cardinal family loves it and it doesn't attract the nuisance pests), I would imagine that this can be grown pretty easily. :)

I bought a small bag of safflower seeds for the birdfeeder at Walmart. I mix it with sunflower seeds and get sprouts under the feeder. The seedlings are supposed to look similar, so I don't know what I have yet. I've let a few stay where they are...maybe I'll find out soon!