A couple of years back I bought one of their wildflower seed mixes from them. I really don’t know anything about growing wild flowers. I did not do anything to prepare a bed. I just spread the seed in an area of sun at the edge of my yard that had until recently been shaded by some recently cut down trees. I saw a few Astors and black-eyed Susans come up but as I was not really taking care of the plot I am not sure what I should have expected. Now the area basically gets mowed; it is only grasses and weeds.
If you aren’t experienced in growing flowers and ornamentals, I would advise against starting with seeds. If I were you, I would try to find a local nursery that specializes in native plants. They can advise you on all those things you are finding overwhelming and recommend a good combination of plants to meet your needs.
No experience with American Meadows, but High Country Gardens also offers seed mixes and pre-designed collections of container perennials for different garden arrangements. I haven’t tried those garden kits, but ordered plants from them before and have been happy with them. Not huge plants, but healthy and seem to establish nicely. I’m thinking to get some wildflower mix from them and do something about the abandoned alley behind my yard that for now is intent on amplifying nasty weeds.
They have some nice selections and have a good reputation around here. They may be more oriented for the gardeners in the West, but I think they also have recommended selections for other areas of the country.
I’ve looked at the American Meadows website and have also wondered if I could convert some of my grass (mostly weeds) into a wildflower garden. So far, fear of wasted time and much effort leading to a weedy unmown eyesore has prevented me from going forward. Lately, I’ve been thinking of maybe starting with a small trial area to see how it goes.
I’ll be watching for more responses.
Edited to add:
You didn’t say how big the area you’re thinking about making into a flower garden. In my case, I’m looking at 1/4 acre or more. If you’re just looking at a small area it wouldn’t be very hard to just buy some flowers at the garden center and fill the area.
As far as going with seeds, it’s really not too difficult. Early last spring I gave it a try for the first time. I have germinated vegetable seeds like tomatoes and peppers for years, so it wasn’t really anything new to me. I simply picked up a bunch of seed packets locally and sowed them inside in February or March just as I always do with the vegetable seeds. Well, some of them germinated at near 100% and others closer to 10 or 20%. Those that were near 100% grew like crazy and did very well. I’ll have to look at my notes, but I’m pretty sure they were the annuals. The others, mostly perennials, were tougher to grow out and eventually put into the garden, though it was a success.
I went and found my notes from earlier this year:
Butterfly weed - slow, difficult to germinate
Purple coneflower - slow, semi-difficult to germinate
Delphinium - slow, difficult to germinate
Salvia - slow, semi-difficult to germinate
Zinnia - fast, easy to germinate
Marigolds - fast, easy to germinate
Columbine - slow, difficult to germinate
Not in my notes:
Geraniums - I ended up planting about 20 of these, so they must have been easy to germinate and grow out.
I did get at least a few of each into the garden and all but the Columbine flowered (I’m sure it will next year). As far as reseeding each year, I’m sure the Marigolds and Zinnias will as I found new plants growing late in the summer and even they ended up flowering in the fall.
Lowes and Menards have good deals on perennials i just put in a pollinator garden of sorts for my orchard this year and it has done well at bringing in bees and butterflies as well as hummingbirds.
In the last picture, do you know what the plant with pink pompoms is? Somewhat central, near the metal shelf. It looks interesting, is it a kind of allium?
It all looks great!
Thanks! Yes I’ve seen that nursery here in TN. I wish it were closer to me
I agree that seeds in general would be hard as so many are finicky. A broadcast seed mix might be something i try in a small area.
But in my fantasy I’m imagining something more purposeful than a meadow though meadows are nice too.
Nice! That’s close to what I had in mind.
I have no qualms about buying plants from Lowe’s etc but it’d be nice if I had a garden plan and a shopping list first
Some things I have thought of:
Coneflower
Lavender
Bee balm
Lantana
Lupine
Bachelor Buttons
Goldenrod
Iron weed
Joe our weed
Black eyed Susan
Russian sage
Rosemary …
If you may consider small no fuss shrubs in your plan, I can recommend bluebeard/caryopteris. It’s been really trouble free for me, establishes quickly and bees and assorted others love it. It blooms a little later in the season too, which is helpful. I am partial to yellow-leaved varietals - it really makes it a season-long interest plant, and looks great when the small blue flowers start showing up. I think there are a few of the golden ones, and tend to have something with “sunshine” in the name. Mine is “Sunshine Blue” and I got it from, yes, Lowes I absolutely love it, but I’d check if it performs well in your climate.
Another one that fills up a bit of space but doesn’t get too tall is gaura / indian feather /wand flower etc. It’s also very popular with bees and it’s particularly amusing to watch how low those skinny stems sink when a rotund bumblebee docks at a flower. Doesn’t seem to faze them.
I like a lot of plants on your list, and grow a few, still need to up my game with annuals.
Looks like a great list to start with! If you have room for a vine, I suggest the honeysuckle “Major Wheeler”. The hummers love it! It flowers all summer and into fall/winter (still flowering here in NC in December). My wife and I had a blast all summer watching the hummers on this vine. It’s a vigorous grower and pretty much evergreen here in NC.
Another interesting vine that the hummers like is Cardinal Climber, though it’s an annual. This thing is an aggressive grower, a monster! The flowers are smaller and not as showy, but a nice vine to try. Just sow some seeds in the spring where you want the vine and they will GROW!
I had bought a variety of their seed mixes and straight seeds. They all worked for me. Four years into it, both the original plants and the self seeded progeny do well and bloom every year. I used the seeds over a period of 3 years and they still germinated. I still have some left that I will use this year.
Yes, Millennium allium…seems to be the best one for use in landscaping by the average “Joe” (or “Jill”)…as some require more skill and ‘Millennium’ takes care of itself.
If I put an order with High Country Gardens for spring delivery (which I wasn’t planning for this year), I’m going to blame this thread And @BlueBerry and @thepodpiper are going to have a hand in that. Millenium looks great! It’s also really nice to see how things look in a landscape. The foliage on it seems really attractive too.
And, you know, once I start looking at plant pages, there is this and that I wanted anyway, and that other one “would work great for this spot maybe”…
It’s a new garden. There are plenty of " spots". I did have a lot of bees around this year though. I guess I’m going to grow pumpkin the explorer again, if for nothing else. That seemed to be a real bee magnet!
Going off on a tangent here, but the other thing that was a big hit for bees wasps and others in my yard were the two saucers with some pebbles in them (to prevent drowning) that I filled up with water almost daily. It’s super dry here, and not a fancy neighborhood, so there are no ponds water features etc. I suspect that the pumpkin flowers might have been popular for the huge quantities of nectar partly as a source of moisture.
I converted an acre of overgrown grass to a wildflower meadow and couldn’t be happier.
I bought my seeds from Michigan Wildflower farm and couldn’t be happier. I consulted with them a few times prior to purchase. I couldn’t be happier.
I divided the property in thirds and completed the project over a 3 year period.
Looks great now
I absolutely love it, but I’d check if it performs well in your climate.
And