The Wildflowers of the Southeast

Southern wildflower gardeners have some distinct advantages over their counterparts in other parts of the country. Mostly, the Southeast is blessed with a very long growing season, making it a grand home for wildflowers. What's more, even though the south has heavy heat through summer, it does not "brown down" in the same way west Texas and the Pacific coast do once mid-summer arrives. The south stays green and in bloom, thanks to adequate rainfall through the summer and into fall.

The Southeast is a combination of several "floristic" regions. Areas such as Arkansas and the mountains of the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee are parts of the great Eastern Deciduous Forest which covered almost all the eastern half of the continent before European settlement. Botanists call the regions covering the coastal areas of the Southeast the Southeastern Mixed Forest. Great rivers and huge swampy areas in the coastal regions have made those areas a wonderful habitat for wildflowers.

As everyone knows, huge areas of the southeast have been cleared for agriculture, opening the forest floor to a wide variety of wildflowers, both native and naturalized. Our Proven Mixture for the Southeast takes all these characteristics into consideration, and is a balanced mixture of wild annual and perennial flower seeds that will do well for you. Depending on your exact location, certain wildflowers will do better than others, but because of the large species count in the mixtures, you should have a good show of season-long color no matter where you plant.

Because of the mild temperatures, Southeastern gardeners can plant in either spring or fall. Late March through April is best for spring, and early October into November is best for putting in fall plantings.