Has anyone experimented at all with the Russian 'Kura' clover? Specifically, I hear that it grows slowly the first year and then takes off after that. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this. Thanks

it is very hard to establish. I mean very, very hard. Most people that I know who have tried it have not had any luck. If you are lucky enough to get it established it will be there forever. I'd stick with white/ladino & red clovers.

I have three small kura cloverfields and all are doing very well now, but I did go through a learning curve. I tried twice to fall plant kura as I had done with ladino clovers, and neither attempt worked. Kura grows for several weeks, and then puts its energy into growing a root system. Young kura does not withstand competition very well, and apparently it does not have enough stores to survive the Mid-Atlantic winters if fall planted(?).My attempts at spring planting succeeded, but I had to keepafter the weeds. My oldest kura field is now three years old, and I expect to never have to re-plant the field again. Kura sends out an rhizome that will goa few feet from a single plant, so it will fill in bare spots over time. So yes, it does take off after a year. Although I have seen Kura recommended in a mix (Ed Spin's book), I would recommend you stick to a pure stand of kura. Or at the least, establish the kura stand for a few years before introducing any other plants. Deer appear to like kura as well as any other clover.

-fsh

added in edit: here is a pic of a kura rhizome: