Wild Red Clover Seeds (Trifolium pratense)

Wild Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) is a native perennial legume of meadows, pastures and roadsides, growing around 10 to 20cm tall in the wild form. It has the familiar trefoil leaves, often marked with a pale chevron, and carries rounded heads of pinkish-red flowers from May right through to September. The wild form is smaller and more persistent than the agricultural clovers bred for forage.

Red Clover is one of the most important plants for long-tongued bumblebees, whose numbers have fallen as flower-rich grassland has been lost, and it is also visited by honeybees and butterflies. As a legume it fixes nitrogen through its roots, and it is a foodplant for several moth caterpillars. It is a reliable perennial of traditional hay meadows that flowers over a long season and persists well under cutting or grazing.

It grows on most well-drained soils in full sun, including clay and loam, and tolerates moderate fertility better than many meadow flowers. It suits a garden meadow, a hay meadow restoration, a pasture margin, an orchard floor or a sunny verge. Avoid deep shade and waterlogged ground.

Sow in autumn or spring onto bare or scarified ground, surface-sown and firmed in without covering. It germinates readily and often flowers in its first full season. Cut or graze after the main flush of flowers has set seed in late summer, removing the cuttings, and it will persist for years. Combine with our 100% wildflower mixes or single species that share the same sunny, well-drained conditions.