Wildflower meadows are trendy as a backyard way to help pollinators, but you don’t have to wait until spring to start one.
In Pennsylvania’s climate, meadows can be direct-seeded either in spring or in mid-fall, ideally after the season’s first couple of killing frosts.
The seed in fall-planted meadows sits dormant in the soil over winter but then gets off to an earlier start than spring-seeded meadows.
“Fall planting might sound counterintuitive at first (since) the growing season is winding down,” says Tabar Gifford in a post for American Meadows, one of the nation’s leading wildflower-seed sellers. “But this method mimics the way wildflowers behave in their natural habitats. As summer ends, wildflower seeds naturally fall to the ground and spend winter nestled atop the soil.”
Many wildflower seeds actually need that winter dormancy (called “cold stratification”) to germinate.
In warmer parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and farther south, seeding a meadow in fall is best done about eight weeks before the season’s first frost. However, the climate in southcentral Pennsylvania (and most of the state other than the southeastern corner) is more suitable for planting after frost.
Reason: if seedlings don’t have enough time to root after they sprout and before cold weather arrives, they’re prone to dying.
“By waiting until the ground is consistently cold (below 50 degrees),” says Gifford, “you can safely scatter your seeds without worrying about premature germination. Once spring arrives and the soil begins to warm, your wildflowers will burst into life, often weeks earlier than if you had planted in spring.”
If you’re not sure about timing or are concerned about a dead, early-sprouted fall planting, wait until early spring to plant, Gifford suggests.
No matter when you plant, the super-important first step is loosening or at least roughing up the soil so the seeds will have good contact.
Simply tossing seeds over a lawn or compacted ground usually yields little to no germination.
“Wildflowers aren’t particularly fussy about soil quality, but sunlight and good drainage are essential,” says Gifford. “If your soil is heavy clay or tends to retain water, consider adding organic matter like compost to improve its structure.”
Owen Wormser, author of the book, “Lawns into Meadows” (Stone Pier Press, $24.95 paperback, 2022), says the easier (and better) route is to select plants that are native to the conditions you have as opposed to trying to alter the site.
He agrees that mid to late fall is actually the best time to seed a meadow, followed by early spring. Both of those times avoid the drawback of seeds having trouble germinating in too much heat.
Larry Weaner, the Pennsylvania meadow expert and co-author of the “Garden Revolution” book (with Thomas Christopher, Timber Press, $39.95 hardcover, 2016), has suggestions on some of the best perennials and grasses for Northeastern meadows.
Some of Weaner’s top picks for drier sites include: anise hyssop (Agastache), butterfly weed, lance-leaf coreopsis, purple coneflower, rattlesnake master, dotted St. Johnswort, blazing star, bergamot, beardtongue, mountain mint, black-eyed susan, goldenrod, smooth blue aster, spiderwort, and the grasses big bluestem, sideoats grama, plains oval sedge, poverty rush, little bluestem, and purpletop.
And some of his picks for wetter sites include: swamp milkweed, Joe Pye weed, blazing star, cardinal flower, blue lobelia, monkey flower, mountain mint, goldenrod, calico aster, blue vervain, ironweed, golden alexander, and the grasses fox sedge, poverty rush, common rush, and purpletop.
Once the soil is loosened, cleared of grass/weeds, improved (if needed), and raked smooth, scatter your wildflower seeds evenly over the bed. The seeds can be mixed with sand to help distribute them, Gifford adds. Wormser uses sawdust as a mixer.
Then tamp lightly and water to settle the seed at or very close to the soil surface. Planting them any deeper lessens germination.
That’s it for the season. Don’t worry if snow soon covers the seeds. A snow cover helps insulate the seed while it’s “resting” in a dormant state until temperatures warm in spring.
As the days lengthen and the soil warms following winter, the seeds should begin sprouting — some as early as March. Different varieties will pop up as the warmth progresses, and then each variety will bloom in order according to their genetics.
Larkspur, columbine, and sweet william are some of the earliest wildflowers to bloom, then summer brings such favorites as coneflowers, bee balm, and blazing star, and asters, goldenrods, and sunflowers bring up the rear.
Stay on top of removing weeds in the early years of a meadow, especially troublesome perennial ones such as thistle, goutweed, and bindweed, so none of them are able to out-compete the wildflowers.
Read more on how to start a “mini-meadow” from seed
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