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Cephalaria gigantea |
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| Common name |
golden scalehead |
| Family |
dipsacaceae |
| Life cycle |
perennial |
| Flowers |
yellow |
| Size |
to 8 ft |
| Light |
sun |
From seed  |
Give 6-8 weeks cold, then move to room temperature. Germination may start during the cold stage.
detailed seed-starting info below
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| Seed ripens | late July |
This plant holds its pale yellow pincushion flowers high above the rosette of jagged leaves. It's almost impossible to take a picture that does the whole plant justice, so for now you get bits and pieces of flower, bud, and leaves on this page.
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| | The foliage is quite distinctive - deeply divided, oddly asymmetric |
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| Cool flowerbud. I didn't notice the aphids until I viewed the photo close up
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We left this plant behind in our Pennsylvania garden (and wish it well); we don't grow it in Houston. About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Cephalaria gigantea
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| jacque | Jul 02, 2006 | Your pictures were great! I was looking for what the foliage was to figure out if this was the plant I have in my garden ,thanks |
| Karen in Graham WA | Jun 30, 2010 | I grow this rather odd plant. Right now a clump is in full bloom in front of a gray upright juniper.
At about five feet it's a rare (FOR ME), case of the right plant in the right place. It also self sows here so their's always a few plants to share. |
| Truly | Feb 16, 2011 | I have this plant - it came with the house when I bought it, so I didn't have to start from seed - and it's taking over! I can't figure out how to uproot it for moving/sharing - it feels like a rhizome underground, it's so strongly rooted. But I can't say I've tried very hard because I didn't want to damage it. Any suggestions?
I wonder what you mean by "it's taking over". As far as I know, this plant does not spread by its roots, and ours never grow much larger than a foot around. Of course it does get tall! A mature specimen can probably be moved in early spring by digging carefully to maintain as much of the root structure as possible, and promptly replanting in its new location. |
| francoise | Aug 17, 2011 | Truly, I had one plant wich became very large, but was at the wrong place. I dug it out ( in autumn if I well remember) when it was 3 years old. In fact, I got it divided into several plants , from which 2 survived the move. It will take some time for them to reach the volume of their parent plant. It indeed doesn't spead via the roots, but the rosettes of leaves and stems just increase in number.
Good luck |
- Seed from JL Hudson. Baggy 70F (16%G, 17d). Moving to cold for 4 weeks did not result in more germination
- Seed from '01 garden. Baggy 35F (7w) - 70F (4w; 25%G, 3-7d). Further temperature cycling did not result in more germination
- Seed from '01 garden (selected fattest seeds). Baggy 35F (8w; 84%G, 5-8w).
- Seed from '08 trade. Baggy 35F (100%G, 4w)
- Seed from '09 trade. Baggy 35F (5w; 25%G, 4w) - 70F (no further G, 9d)
- Seed from '11 trade. Baggy 35F (83%G, 5-8w)
Cold stage appears to be essential. Only plump seeds are viable - but it's not always easy to tell seeds from duds when they are dry. After a soak or a few days in a wet filter paper, the difference is obvious.
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