Gardening
Related: About this forumWhen to plant native wildflowers?
I'm an absolute newbie to gardening, generally anything I touch dies, but I'm going to have a go at getting rid of grass in a portion of my yard and converting it into native wildflowers.
What I'm looking at is a mixture of annuals and perennials. From what I've been able to read it sounds like fall is a good time to plant these..... but when in the fall? At the moment the temperature is still getting into the upper 80s (I'm in USDA zone 8a), but it looks like that will be cooling down to mid 70s next week. Should I wait until later in the fall to plant, or can these seeds be sown right now?
questionseverything
(10,054 posts)Have you already killed the grass?
groundloop
(12,171 posts)And I'll also rototill these areas.
What I'm planning on doing is purchasing a wildflower seed mix such as this one.
https://www.americanmeadows.com/product/wildflower-seeds/fragrant-wildflower-seed-mix
questionseverything
(10,054 posts)If you plant now, I think you will lose the annuals
Btw farm and fleet sells wildflower/ zinnia packs each spring with fertilizer around each seed, they work great and were pretty inexpensive
MiHale
(10,681 posts)Had a good experience with them. Lots of talking about different locations and soil conditions. Tons of info.
https://www.americanmeadows.com/
groundloop
(12,171 posts)Maybe I'm overthinking this. I'm guessing that the perennials in the mix will be fine getting planted as soon as possible. What I'm worrying about (maybe needlessly) is the annuals blooming if I plant them right now and then not coming back next year. (Hey, I'm totally stupid when it comes to growing plants).
Figarosmom
(2,320 posts)Like poppies and coneflowers,, mums,asters Silvia, phlox, Rebecca (brown eyed susans,)Susan's,, daisy'ssweet william and 4 oclocks . Many of these are in the mix but the annuals in the mix won't make it through the winter. But if you want a head start huy individual packets of the perennials and scatter the seeds where you want t h em to grow then in the spro g add the mix.
O
You can put in a bunch of tulips and daffodils now and put in your seed around them in the spring. The seedlings will come up as the leaves die down from the tulips and daffodils. Don't cut the leaves because that is what makes the new bulb for the next year. You can cut the stem and dead over off though
Kali
(55,701 posts)how do people think native annuals survive winter? however not knowing your location it is hard to say WHEN in the fall. if you are in the desert where we sometimes have winter moisture I would wait until around thanksgiving or a little before.
if in doubt buy extra and try several plantings. birds (and ants/rodents) often take a lot of the seed anyway.
rockbluff botanist
(360 posts)I'm a botanist and a Master Gardener. It all depends on where you are.
Here in the southeast, we plant native trees and shrubs in the fall.
Response to rockbluff botanist (Reply #8)
groundloop This message was self-deleted by its author.
rockbluff botanist
(360 posts)I'm a botanist and Master Gardener in the southeast.
We plant our trees and shrubs in the fall.
Seeds that need cold stratification can be planted in the fall.
groundloop
(12,171 posts)(Now all of my neighbors are gonna' know I'm one of them libruls - if they haven't figured it out already).
beesplease
(16 posts)Silly question....
Wont the seeds decide when to sprout?