Wildflowers in Winter

The start of each new year is wildflower season, wildflower seed planting, that is. A winter storm, freezing weather, snow, ice, and rain are all perfect for starting these wild ones out of doors. With a break in the weather and nice days predicted for the coming week, wildflower lovers will have a warm window of opportunity to spread seeds for spring blooming.

If in the past you’ve had poor luck with wildflower seeds, perhaps you planted in the wrong season or birds got to your seeds before they could emerge from the ground. Timing is critical for wildflower seeds because they need to freeze and thaw in order to germinate properly. This is especially true of very thick-hulled seeds such as poppy, flax, liatris, columbine, and daisy.

In contrast, there are wildflower seeds that are seemingly weightless. Because they are designed to float they’re light as feathers and challenging to get down into the soil. Whether you’re using heavy or light weight seeds, proper seed to soil contact is essential to achieve a successful stand of wildflowers. Casually broadcasting seed on an unprepared area will bring disappointing results. A bit of work and patience will reward you in the long run with a really successful show of blooms.

Before I get to the exact steps needed for a successful planting let me give you a word of warning about wildflower seeds. Correct seed choice and seed quality are the most important considerations when starting a new wildflower bed. Plant the wrong seeds for the area and they either won’t come up in spring or might never bloom. Quality is the next most important attribute. To keep down cost, many blends of wildflower seeds are composed of filler and cheap annual flowers. You want high quality seeds that will come back year after year, spreading their flowering joy to other parts of the landscape.

With that said, my favorite wildflower seeds are from a friend’s company in the higher elevations of Colorado. I’ve mentioned ‘Beauty Beyond Belief Wildflowers Seed’ numerous times in this column and will continue to do so because of the exceptional quality of the product. I am somewhat biased in my praise because I helped develop the seed mix for our area and repeatedly have seen its successful crops. The region-specific blend for our area is the “Arizona Wildflower Seed” mix. Others I like are: fragrant wildflowers, flowers that attract butterflies and birds, the deer resistant wildflowers mixture, low grow mix, wildflowers for shade, drought tolerant mix, and the parade of poppies that has seven different varieties and colors in the mix.

There are four simple steps that really make the difference between wildflower success and failure. Here are the specific planting techniques that I count on to guarantee breath-taking crops of wildflowers:

Step 1: Select and prepare the planting area. Wildflowers, except those that are shade loving, need a considerable amount of sunshine so choose an area that receives at least six hours of sunlight daily.
Planting in weed free soil assures optimal results so pull out any growth you don’t want mixed in with your wildflowers. Then rake the seedbed to loosen the top 1"- 2" inches of soil. I find that better growth occurs when a natural plant food is raked into the seedbed when loosening the topsoil. The all-natural plant food I designed is suited for this use. It releases slowly throughout the spring and is exactly what’s needed during the germination period because slow feeding creates healthier roots and better flowers.

Step 2: Create your own hydro mulch. Some of the seeds in a mix are so small you can barely tell if you’ve spread the seeds evenly across the soil. Buy a bag of composted mulch, pour it into a wheelbarrow, and mix in the seed. Spread this seed-mulch blend over the prepared seedbed. This simple trick helps you visually see where the seed is placed, insures good seed to soil contact, insulates the seed, and camouflages it from hungry birds.

Step 3: Keep the seedbed moist. If sufficient moisture is present, seeds will start to germinate by the end of February through April as soon as soil temperatures warm. Regardless of planting location, your wildflowers will require supplemental water if it doesn't rain enough to keep the seedbed moist. Even a good snow will maximize germination.

Step 4: Re-seed. In the fall, after the bloom is off and the seed heads are ready to drop, you can help spread your wildflowers for next spring. Just trim back the drying plants with a weed whacker. Besides pruning back the flowerbed this will send a mixture of seeds flying throughout the garden, properly preparing for the next season’s growth!

This month kicks off a new TV show, “The High Country Gardener”, starring Yours Truly! The program will air on our local access channel 13 every Wednesday at 1pm and on Sundays at 5pm with random rebroadcasts during the week. As you might expect, the show’s programming is specific to the needs of gardeners in the central Yavapai County region. We’ve selected a format that features a different program topic every month; January’s garden subject is none other than how to plant wildflowers. I’m looking forward to trying this method of sharing gardening information.

Until next week, I'll see you in the garden center.