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Gardening organically since 1968

Wildflower photo © Stanford University

Wildflowers In 3 Steps

Open Copyright Pam Walatka

It is easy. It is cheap. It might work.

1. Get seeds

   You can acquire wildflower seeds by harvesting them from existing plants, by buying packets or canisters in a store, or by ordering online. Your best bet will be your state (or national) flower; odds are those flowers grow naturally in you area.

2. Use your rainy season

   If you scatter wildflower seeds at the beginning or in the middle of your rainy season, the plants can use rain to grow while they develop a very long tap root. Later, when the surface soil dries out, the long tap root gives the flower access to deep water. By definition, wildflowers do not need irrigation.

3. Scatter and forget

   The basic idea of wildflower cultivation is you throw out some seeds and hope they grow. Wildflowers need no care.

   A couple of years ago, I scattered five different batches of seeds in five different but similar areas. Four of the batches failed to do anything. One batch worked. From that one batch, poppies have grown and re-seeded themselves every year. In sowing wildflowers, as with many efforts, the odds are against success, but the effort is worth doing for the fun of doing it. When I fling wildflower seeds into the air and onto the earth, I feel hope and joy.

   Scatter the seeds wherever natural wild grasses grow: a field, a vacant lot, a hillside, beside the road. Generally, wildflowers like a sunny area. Open the container (packet/canister) and hold onto the container while flinging your arm, like tossing a Frisbee. This is not about control. This is about wildness.

See also our other sites

	The Invasiveness of Native Plant People
	Pam's Yoga Fitness--free online yoga
	Esalen in the 1960s