American Basketflower Seeds

American Basketflower
Centaurea americana
Plectocephalus americanus
Seeds per Package: 30

🌸 American Basketflower – Centaurea americana | The Woven Starbloom 🌸

Oh, what a treasure this wild bloom is—American Basketflower, a sun-loving sprite with a heart of cream and petals dipped in twilight. Picture her rising tall, up to 4 feet, like a storybook thistle without a single prick, her blooms nestled in a little woven cradle, as if the earth herself braided a basket just to hold her blossom.

Each flower is a vision—lavender-pink petals unfurling around a creamy center, sometimes pale as moonlight in rare albino forms. And that scent? Soft and honeyed, like a warm breeze through prairie grass. Watch closely and you’ll see bees and butterflies circling her like enchanted guests at a meadow ball.

🌾 A Wild Soul with a Gentle Nature:
Though she looks like a thistle, don’t be fooled—she bears no sting, only softness and beauty. Her name comes from the intricate basket-like weave that cups her flower, known as a phyllary—a little marvel of nature’s handiwork. She’s also called Star Thistle or Shaving Brush, but I prefer to call her Prairie Moon’s Crown.

🌞 Easy to Grow, Hard Not to Love:
This is a true annual, completing her full tale in a single season—but she’s generous with seed and may self-sow with grace. Plant her in full sun and well-drained soil, and she’ll reward you with blooms all summer long. Drought-tolerant, undemanding, and beginner-friendly, she makes a fine companion for wildflower meadows or sunny cottage beds.

🌱 To Begin Her Journey:
Sow seeds directly in the garden in early spring or late fall—she loves to take root in the rhythms of the earth. Or, if you’d rather coddle her indoors, start seeds 6–8 weeks before your last frost and transplant once the cold has passed.