safflower help

I received some free safflower seeds today, and am having a bit of trouble finding info on uses for it besides oil and dye. Also not a lot about germination and culture. Any good ideas, or should I just plant them, see what happens and enjoy the pretty flowers?

Well, here in Ladakh the petals, dried, look enough like saffron that people use them instead of saffron in Buddhist ceremonies, because real saffron is so expensive. But I don't suppose that'll be one of your uses!

We had some once in a flower bed and they were fine as ornamentals, a little prickly and not very showy, but worth a try if you've got the seeds.

Thank you for your help, do you know if it has any good culinary use? Is it a good substitute for saffron?

No, I don't think safflower petals are used in cooking like saffron, sorry. They just kind of look like saffron threads, that's all.

Rebecca Norman wrote:No, I don't think safflower petals are used in cooking like saffron, sorry. They just kind of look like saffron threads, that's all.

Safflower is used as a spice in the Azores, pretty much like saffron.