I have a cowslip! How do I get more?

[DigbyTheDigger]

A cowslip has found its way into a flower bed in the front garden and the bees are loving it. How can I get it to spread to the back garden? I don't think digging it up to divide will work as it's growing in the middle of an established grass.

Do they seed like foxgloves, where you can just shake the seeds about after flowering?

They do. Each one makes a TON of seeds.
And/or you could dig up a trowel full of grass, prise out the cowslip then stuff the grass back in? They're pretty tough.

And so so pretty. They're my favourite flower, and I have a ton of them. And seeds. And I have loads at my allotment also. And I've given away loads, and loads of seed.... all from 1 that appeared in my mums lawn!

They're so cheery in a dull spring like this one, and excellent fodder for pollinators.

Oh, 'a grass' as opposed to lawn grass. I get it now!

Yes, a grass grass. 😁I'm happy for that one to stay in the front garden, so to use the seeds in the back should I just keep an eye out for the flowers dying then cut that bit off and shake the seeds in the back garden?

I guess! They take a while to dry out/ripen, so you won't suddenly miss them. They have a noticeable rattle when they're ready to drop.

The first year I was so careful: I put a bag over the seed spike then cut it off and whomphed it over, so as to not lose a single one. Then i learnt that they are chock full of seeds and I could relax a bit.

If you miss some and they sprout in situ, they're really easy to ID and they transplant very happily.

Maybe so some in a module tray also so that you too can have a cowslip forest? No need to keep undercover.

sow of course.

Not so.

Oh this is making me happy! I have a new garden and doing as much as I can for wildlife so I'm very excited to have been chosen by the cowslip gods as a potential new home.

Lovely!

We've been turning our front lawn into a meadow, and the first cowslips appeared this year. Totally understand the joy of spotting one.

The flower itself dies, then the seed pod develops behind the dead flower. You have to wait for it to develop fully, then it dries, and when it’s dry and about to open you can harvest the seeds.

Thanks! I'll keep an eye for the seed pods.

I have been chosen today too.
By the lungwort gods. I think I'll keep him, as bees seem to like that too. And I think it's pretty, even if it's not strictly a native.

But a quick Google told me that one of its (many) common names is Jerusalem Cowslip.

I had a whole patch of them and just got home to find my husband had mowed the lot 😭

LTB.