The pros and cons of self seeding plants

Self seeding plants

This summer I've noticed several self seeding plants popping up in the garden at home and at work.

Self seeding weeds

In some cases self seeding plants are seen as a nuisance. The definition of a weed is 'a plant out of place'. This means anything that self seeds that you think of as being a nuisance can be classified as a weed. The trick to managing self seeding weeds it to remove them before they grow seed thereby eliminating their method of reproduction (easier said than done). Examples of notorious self seeding weeds are dandelions, plantains, clover and many others.

Desirable self seeding plants

If a self seeding plant that has miraculously grown all by itself is desirable then there is nothing more magical than watching a plant you love materializing all own its own. One of the best things about a desirable self seeder (apart from the fact that you have had to do nothing to grow it) is that they are sometimes superior to plants you have sown yourself.

Examples of desirable self seeding plants

One example of this is an echinacea plant that sowed itself at my work garden. The funny thing is that we were trying to grow this particular form of echinacea but it only grew very small. We couldn't keep the poor little thing alive and forgot all about it. The next season a massive Echinacea plant sprouted up less than one metre away from the original one on the opposite side of a path that separates the two locations. The self sown plant is huge (almost twice the size of the original). Another example is a massive sunflower that self seeded also at work. It has to be the biggest sunflower that I've ever seen. The plant grew without any help whatsoever and the single flower head was huge (see the picture below). The other very popular example of self seeding is that of self seeding edible plants (parsley, chives, chard, lettuce and many others).

Annual flowers are by nature great self seeders. Annuals (lasting only one year) obviously need to be good self seeders to keep propagating themselves. Annuals I have at home that have done this include amaranthus, pansies, sunflowers and hollyhocks. Hopefully next year I can add poppies and calendula to that list.

This is the seed head from the self seeded sunflower. Unfortunately it was in bloom when I was on leave from work so I couldn't get a picture of it in its full glory. I'll save all those seeds and plant them at home next spring.

Amaranthus that grew itself in my home garden. Note all the annuals in the background that I've purposely left to run to seed. They should add to next years warm season annual display.

Below is the humble pansy. These little troopers keep reproducing themselves year after year. Heaps of them sprouted in my annual bed of my Macedon home last spring.

Amaranthus in Macedon. Ornamental, Edible or Weed?

I brought home these deep red Amaranthus as tiny seedlings that we sowed in pots in Parkville. I'm generally not a fan of the plum red coloured plants. They remind me of those horrible Prunus trees that you see planted in the naturestrips of Melbourne suburbs but I have grown accustomed to these Amaranthus plants. I think they would make a nice backdrop plant with more brightly coloured plants in the foreground.

Amaranthus is the genus of this plant and Amaranthaceae is the family. The genus contains over 60 different species which vary in colour and shape. The flowers and foliage can be green, purple, red or yellow or a combination of these depending on the species. Another type I want to grow in the future is a tricolour variant called, believe it or not, Amaranthus tricolour.



Amaranthus are annual, warm season plants. They are related to Celosias. They are not just used as ornamental plants. Some species are used as food crops. The seed contains protein and the food known as Quinoa is in fact from a plant of the Amaranthaceae family. Flour can be made from Amaranthus seed and the leaves, stems and roots from certain species are also edible. A red dye can also be produced from some Amaranthus plants.

Some Amaranthus plants are also considered weeds. Recently a new strain called Amaranthus palmeri has emerged which is resistant to Glyphosate (roundup). Amaranthus come from the Greek word Amarantos which means 'unwithering'. It is the subject of an ancient Greek fable where a Rose flower is jealous of the Amaranthus flower because it is unwithering whereas the Rose only lasts a season. This is confusing as Amaranthus plants are all considered annuals or short lived perennials according to all information I've researched.