Wildflower Meadows

Knee High Mix
This mix is less than 24" high and provides a neater appearance for residential or commercial landscaping.

Wildflower Meadow Fiction:
To create a beautiful wildflower meadow, just buy one of those pretty shaker cans of wildflower seeds, spread them over your lawn, and stop mowing.

Wildflower Meadow Fact:
Although a wildflower meadow is easier to create than a flower bed, you will need to prepare the soil by tilling thoroughly, and encourage your meadow by watering regularly.

Bird and Butterfly Mix
This choice mixture provides seeds and nectar to songbirds, hummingbirds and butterflies.

When to Plant
In cool climates, plant a mixture of annuals and perennials in spring, early summer or late fall. Fall plantings should be late enough so that the ground will be thoroughly cold, and seeds will not germinate until spring. If you don't plan to use annuals, perennials can be sown in early fall provided there are 10-12 weeks before frost so that the plants will have time to become established before going dormant. Late fall is the perfect time to plant when supplemental moisture isn't available, and you expect plenty of rain in the spring.

In mild climates, plant in the cooler months (fall through spring) for best results. Fall plantings done prior to periods of rainfall will insure an early spring display.

Dry Climate Mix
This is a low-maintenance mixture will thrive in areas that receive 10" to 30" of rainfall a year.

What to Plant

Single-species meadows are popular these days, and most flowers look their best when planted in mass. The drawback to planting a single species is that there are few flowers that will bloom from spring to fall, so there will be a period when you meadow is not in bloom. You might enjoy a meadow of 2-3 species with different bloom times, so that your meadow will be in bloom most of spring, summer and fall without sacrificing the dramatic look of a single-species meadow.

Mixtures give your meadow a natural appearance, and you meadow will be constantly evolving and changing. Low growing mixes give a more manicured appearance, while mixtures that include taller species give a more 'wild' appearance. Mixtures look best in large meadows.

Basics of establishing a wildflower meadow:

Creating a Wildflower Meadow Regardless of the size of your property, wildflowers can enhance its beauty and add to your enjoyment. This booklet describes how to grow meadow wildflowers that can fill any size yard with a seasonal procession of colors. Learn to plan, prepare, select the proper seeds, and maintain your meadow with this informative booklet.

• Try to rid the meadow of weeds before planting. Weeds are the most common reason for the failure of a wildflower meadow. Solarization usually does a good job of ridding the soil of weeds. See Soil Solarization.
  
  
• Till and prepare the soil as you would for any seedbed, then apply the seeds at twice the rate recommended on the package. To facilitate even spreading, mix seeds with equal portions of clean river sand.
  
  
• Keep the seedlings moist and weed diligently.
  
  
• Cut to 6 inches high in late fall or winter to prevent invasion by woody plants and to help disperse flower and grass seeds.
  
  
• Don't forget to include some annuals in your mix. When planting in the spring, some of your perennials won't bloom until the following year, so you'll need annuals for color this year. Many annuals reseed themselves, so you may see them coming back year after year.