Fall or early spring is the best time to start a wildflower garden. Layout your design on paper and then transfer to your garden. Select the plants and type of wildflowers you want (either a wildflower mixture or buy specific plant seeds). Prepare your soil by clearing the area of existing weeds and grasses. Scrape to clear the soil (preferred) or if necessary, use herbicide at least 3 weeks before you sow your seeds. Once the ground is cleared, lightly cultivate or bow rake the area to loosen the top 1” of soil. Add amendments to the soil if needed. Most wildflowers do not root deep, so do not spend a lot of time digging and tilling your soil. Just make sure it has enough nutrients for the seeds to germinate. Scatter seeds onto the prepared soil, and then simply walk around on the area to set the seeds into the soil. Cover lightly with mulch or bark if desired.
That is all there is to planting a wildflower garden. Just sit back and wait for Mother Nature to do her best at providing you a season of color! Plant seeds for Fall, Spring and Summer and expect a colorful yard for most of the year. Some common wildflowers are lupine, Blue Flax, Poppy, Daisy, cornflower, Evening Primrose, Aster, Goldenrod, Indian blanket, coreopsis, coneflower, Cosmos. The list is almost endless; speak to your local nursery or Master Gardener for a list of wildflowers you can grow.
