The Joy of Wildflowers

by Cody A.
(Pittsburgh, PA.)

There is an explosion of summer color available in a small seed envelope or even a can for just a few dollars. Of course one can spend a lot more getting a custom mix, but the plain old cans of wildflower seeds in the garden department of the big box stores are beautiful too.

I planted wildflower the first time in between my giant sunflowers to take up the space. I bought one or two envelopes of cheap wildflower seeds to populate the spaces between my sunflowers in a planting area that was about two feet by a hundred and five feet. I was pleasantly surprised at what popped up between the sunflowers. My first planting yielded a natural fence of big green sunflower stalks and leaves topped with giant yellow flowers that were like the fence post caps with the wildflowers acting as the boards of the fence.

I would just stand out there and look at the flowers. I remember looking at my natural fence row once while mowing. I was enjoying the view so much that I went off course with the riding tractor! Up popped blues and yellow, and deep hues of red that were so dark they almost looked like a light brown. The colors up close were velvety in some spots, shiny in other, velvety on this wildflower, and glowing on another.

When choosing what wildflowers to plant, just make sure they are hardy to your region. If they are, and you choose the right spot, many will come back next year! Depends on if you mow them down before they go to seed or not. Look on the can or envelopes to make sure there aren't any varieties that will grow to tall or too short for what you want.

If you have a large area to plant, you can make a place of color that will stop traffic! If you have a tiny spot, the color will still be there in a smaller portion. Try a sprinkling of wildflower seeds this year if you have a spot where you want color, but not have to worry about it.

Wildflower Seed on eBay