Wildflower Planting Guides
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Welcome to the best practical and easy-to-understand information on Wildflower Gardening. These are our own illustrated articles, based on work with wildflower gardeners all over North America for over 25 years.
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Wildflower Planting
Wildflower Seed Planting Instructions This is our step-by-step guide for planting wildflowers in any region, any season. It's easy to follow and based on work with millions of gardeners all over more than 25 years. Use this guide to grow with confidence! Read More »
How Much Seed Do I Need?
Simple, clear info on seed coverage: how to quickly estimate your area size in square feet, how to choose the right amount of seeds for the look you want. Read More »
FAQs About Wildflowers and Wildflower Meadows
There are about 10 questions any new wild gardener always asks—for example, "When will I see blooms?", "How do I tell weeds from wildflowers?" Here are the answers. Read More »
What's In Bloom Today
After your seed is planted, you'll have these questions. Here are the answers. For questions like "What's that blue one?" "When will the poppies bloom?" "How about the perennials?" All the answers are here, in simple plain talk. Read More »
Late Fall and Winter Planting Times
We hear the question all the time: "What's the best time to plant wildflower seeds in fall, in my area?" This article answers the question and more. It also relates wildflower planting to fall bulb planting time--sometimes doing both at once can save a lot of work. Read More »
Learn About Fall Planting
Even though spring will always be our first choice planting season, fall planting has advantages too. After all, when you think about it, nature plants wildflowers in the fall! Read More »
First Frost Date Chart
When will your annual flowers be killed by frost? When will your gardening season end? Check this chart to learn about your areas "killing frost" timeline. Read More »
Understanding Wildflowers
What is a Wildflower?
Sounds simple, doesn't it? A clear definition becomes important when you're growing wildflowers. Don't confuse "wildflower" with "native." Read More »
The Importance of the Wild Annuals and the Wild Perennials
We’ll help you understand the simple differences between the two basic plant lifecycles. Once you do, everything else makes sense. Read More »
How To Use The Wild Annuals
Don't be a "Perennials Only" snob! Many gardeners miss a big thrill by ignoring the wild annuals. In wildflower meadows, they're important to a meadow's success. Read More »
Woodland Wildflowers
How we created our woodland garden, plus tips to create your own with some of America's most treasured native wildflowers and ferns. Read More »
The History of Wildflowers
Many common wildflowers are some of the most ancient plants on earth. Here's how we arrived at today's botanical diversity, with pioneers from Ancient Greece onward who led the way. Read More »
Wildflower Glossary
All you need to use any wildflower field guide, reference book, or plant catalog. Read More »
Herbal and Medicinal Wildflowers
A look at the basics of medicinal plants from the mysteries of the Middle Ages, through Native lore, to today's booming herbal medicine industry. Read More »
Wildflower Companion Plants
Best Perennial Plants For Wildflower Meadows
After seeding and tending wildflower meadows for over 25 years, we’ve learned a lot. Our recommendations for perennial plants. Read More »
Best Bulbs for Wildflower Gardeners
Here's how to expand your bloom season by up to two months using easy-to-grow, perennial bulbs. They're always available, and require absolutely no care. Be sure your wildflower garden includes the "other wildflowers"—wild tulips, wild daffodils, and wild lilies. Read More »
Wildflower Names and Classification
How Wildflowers Got Their Names
Your friends will think you have a botany degree after you reading this short article. There's medieval magic lurking in today's plant names. Enjoy. Read More »
About Wildflower Common Names
How did the Forget-me-Not get it's name? And who was Black-Eyed Susan? Common names are fun and confusing. You'll find that many gardeners who know all about wildflowers, sometimes made up their own! Read More »
About Botanical Names
You need to know this--just the basics. Without it, you can make big mistakes. Read More »
Plant Classification and How It Works
This easy to read article will give you the basic framework you need to understand the wildflowers you're growing. Read More »
Wildflower Families
Flower families are not what one may think they are. This short article makes it all perfectly clear. Read More »
Wildflower Folklore
"That plant is deadly poison!" "If you eat that flower, you'll be beautiful." Read the famous Legends of Love, Native lore, and other things in this fascinating area of wildflower info. Read More »
Favorite Wildflower Species
All About Red Poppy
Read all about the World's Most Popular Wildflower. Always our No. 1 seller in the seed department, you'll learn why this little flower is the subject of famous poetry and worn every year in the US and UK on military holidays. Read More »
All About Wild Roses
What is a Wild Rose, anyway? They've been loved and written about for centuries, but this tells you what the actual wild ones are like and where to find them. It also tells you that your Uncle Bruce was probably wrong about the ones at his farm. Read More »
Roses As Wildflowers
After you've enjoyed a wildflower garden for awhile, it always comes to mind: What about Wild Roses? Here are the facts about some of the world's most beautiful wildflowers. Read More »
All About Black-Eyed Susans
One of America's most-loved wildflowers is not only the star of one of the most famous "legends of love" among the flowers, but is easy to grow from seed. Read about her several native species and very popular hybrid perennials. Read More »
Everybody Loves Lupines
From the Pacific to the Coast of Maine, wild lupine species light up almost every state. And their hybrids are favorites in perennial gardens everywhere. Read More »
Regional Wildflowers Across North America
Wildflowers of the Midwest
As the native home of some of our most treasured wildflowers—such as the Black-Eyed Susan and Echinacea—the American Midwest is world famous for its excellent soils and growing conditions. Many native plants of the region were "discovered" by Lewis and Clark on their expedition in 1803-06. The beautiful Blue Flax is named Linum lewisii after Captain Lewis. Read More »
Wildflowers of the Northeast
The entire northeast was covered with primeval forest when our European ancestors arrived, so they were greeted with a rainbow of woodland wildflowers they had never seen. As the forests were cleared, sun-loving wildflowers bloomed, creating a mixture of natives and other meadow flowers that traveled with the colonists from Europe in their seed sacks. Read More »
Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest
This coastal region is known throughout the world as one of the most beautiful places on our planet. The moderate temperatures (compared to our northeastern coast) plus generous rainfall, has made the US Pacific Northwest and neighboring Canadian lands one of our most botanically rich regions, the home of numerous native flowers found nowhere else. Read More »
Wildflowers of the Southeast
The Southeast or "Deep South" is one of the richest "floristic regions" on our continent, famous for rich soils, moderate temperatures, and a very long growing season. With a wide network of wonderful rivers & creeks, the south is the ancestral home of scores of annual & perennial wildflowers, plus many of the world's most famous rhododendron species. Read More »
Wildflowers of the Southwest
The Southern California coast, with its famous flowery hills plus the southwestern deserts farther inland treat residents to one of the world's most spectacular wildflower blooms each spring. The soils and gentle climate create a unique "floristic region" that is home to a true rainbow of wildflowers, led by the golden California Poppy plus a host of wild lupine species. Read More »
Wildflowers of the West
High altitudes and a lack of heavy rainfall create the unique wildflower environment of the intermountain West. Spring comes late and frost early in the high mountains, but even with a short blooming season, truly spectacular displays of wildflower color and a wide variety of species are botanical hallmarks of the region. Read More »
The Unique Spectacle of Texas Wildflowers
No wonder the Lone Star State brags about its wildflowers. Every April, certain parts of Texas light up with a wildflower show no other state can match. Take a tour with a local expert. Read More »
April in Texas
Katie Sherrod, a noted journalist from Fort Worth, sent us this on-site report in April 2005. Go with her on her tour of the famous Texas Wildflowers during the Big Bloom—it always happens in April. Read More »
Honey Bees and Colony Collapse Disorder
Honey Bees and Colony Collapse Disorder
One of the most familiar insects in the world is the honey bee. Colony collapse disorder (or CCD) is a phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive or European honey bee colony abruptly disappear. The cause or causes of the syndrome are not yet fully understood, although many authorities are making progress understanding the causes of the disorder. Read More »
