Babs Lester, Operation Wildflower/Native Plants Chairman
Growing Wildflowers is easy!
If you are longing for a yard that takes care of itself and invites birds and butterflies to stop, Wildflowers are for you!
October and November are ideal times for planting wildflower seeds. The cool weather and additional rains in the Fall will transform your yard into a colorful array of Wildflowers in the Spring.
Prepare your soil for a wildflower planting by spading and turning the soil to approximately 3 inches. It is not necessary to add fertilizer or compost.
Level the bed with a rake and then broadcast the seeds evenly over the soil. I mix my seed with fine sand and then sprinkle the mixture into the gravel in my front yard, followed by a light mist of water every week until new shoots begin to emerge. I water about twice a week, unless we get rain, until the plants are well established. Occasional watering is necessary until the flowers finish blooming.
A good suggestion for what to plant can be found at the Desert Botanical Garden, Arizona Highways Desert Wildflowers, and the Maricopa Extension Service.
I have found seeds at “Wild Seed” in Tempe, Native Seeds/Search, Tucson, and High Country Gardens out of Santa Fe, NM.as well as at the plant shop at the Desert Botanical Garden.
Suggested plants that are easy to grow are, Desert Marigold, Chocolate Flower and Verbena, Coreopsis and Fleabane. Desert Penstemon grow tall and last for many weeks, and then can be harvested by putting the whole stalk into a paper bag and hung upside down until Fall. I love the Penstemon eatonii or Firecracker Penstemon which produces scarlet flowers on 1-2 foot flower stalks. Other favorites include Red Flax, Desert Lupines, Owl Clover and Bluebells. All of these produce seeds and can be harvested, stored in paper bags, and planted again the following season.
There are many good books available on planting, growing, and harvesting Wildflowers. I particularly like “Desert Wildflowers” published by the Arizona Native Plant Society. If you are interested in native plants, attend one of the monthly meetings in the Phoenix area. Information can be found on their website, http://www.aznps.org/
A great meeting for your club would be to tour the Wildflower Trail at Desert Botanical Garden in the Spring months of March and April. I have given tours to several AFGC clubs, so contact me if you would be interested in obtaining information about this beautiful garden.
Don’t wait….buy your seeds now and then enjoy a colorful and attractive yard next Spring.
