Planting Seeds for the Future

Wild petunia (Ruellia caroliniensis)

My wildflowers are filling in nicely since I first planted them three years ago. Some, like this wild petunia have done almost too good, but it's a problem I could easily rectify if I wanted to by selective thinning.  Better to be too successful than the opposite. I sometimes hear from readers that I must be rich because my wildflower areas are so full of purposely planted wildflowers and native grasses. It makes me laugh as I am far from it. I'm just experienced enough to know how to plant.

Folks on the internet are always looking for seeds in which to start their wildflower "meadow" as if that approach will save them money and yield more widespread impact. My experience has taught me that this is an error also.  At least here in the Florida I live in, creating a bare space like I might have done up north and then scattering seed will result in virtually no wildflowers and a busload of weeds. Seeds are not generally economical unless you sow them in flats with potting soil and then transplant the seedlings that survive. What is economical is to plant species, like the wild petunia above, and let them reseed over time. Not every wildflower will reseed without help. For those, I collect their seed and sow it in potting soil. Many, however, spread all on their own over time. Those are the species that should provide the framework for your meadow.  Most individual plants will cost between $4-5 each at a native plant nursery. To plant my entire wildflower areas would have cost me hundreds of dollars. It didn't of course. Purchasing plants from a native plant nursery affiliated with a state native plant society like FANN here in Florida, supports the people who are at the forefront of our movement. It rewards them for their ecological efforts. It's just that you don't have to fill in your future meadow at the time of installation. You simply need to insert the critical pieces and let it develop over time.

My front yard wildflower meadow has morphed over the past three years. Some of what I started with has died and some has spread far and wide so that I've had to thin them out a bit. I have not tried to put my thumb on it excessively, however. It will be what it will become. - just as in nature. After all, this is not supposed to be a manicured garden, but a part of the natural world. 

Arnoglossum ovatum - ovate-leaved Indianplantain

Do not believe that you can create a functioning native plant community by purchasing seed packets and then scattering the seed about your planting area. Purchase plants, let them reseed or collect the seed and propagate it in flats with potting soil. The Indianplantain pictured above is a volunteer from the few specimens I added to my wetland last year. The tickseed (Coreopsis spp.), the black-eyed susans, most of my blazing stars (Liatris spp.) and nearly every goldenrod species (Solidago spp.). started out as a few plants that have now spread everywhere. That is the economical and ecological approach to this type of project. 

Common  black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia hirta) is a prolific reseeder