I’ve been rewilding my lawn and scooped a bag of wildflower seeds from the hardware store. Turns out 2 out of the three are non-native and four O’clock is invasive. I had the best of intentions to support pollinators but this doesn’t seem like a good option for restoring native biodiversity. What should I do with this bag of seeds?
Bonus question: where do you buy your wildflower seeds? I’d like Virginia native species zone 6b-7a. I’m combining with Virginia switch grass.
by Granola_Account
11 Comments
Slight correction, my growing zone is 6a/b but with recent year temps and droughts I may need need to consider what can grow in varying climate/zone
you could grow them in a container and thin out the non natives/invasive as they come up/before they go to seed?
Bird feeder/neighbors yard
I guess the bird feeder accomplishes that too
Return it & pick a local blend
Whatever you do with them, (including feeding to various birds) other than destroying them, you’re going to be contributing non-native and invasive plants to the area around your home. Maybe not directly in your yard but isn’t the idea to improve a whole area, not just our own property?
There are native four o’clocks. This is why the taxonomic name is important rather than the common name. I had to look up if there were native four o’clocks because I had read that they were native to Central and South America. This is true for Mirabilis jalapa. But Mirabilis nyctaginea is native to much of the lower 48.
If the bag doesn’t have more accurate info than the common name, I’d return it. And yes, the scarlett flax is also non-native.
While it does not claim to be a native mix, it does imply a friendlier approach with the catch-all term ‘wildflower’.
Most of my winter-sown natives came from Prairie Moon Nursery in MN.
Preferences can be set for color, height, state, sun/shade amount, et al.
Here are the listings for VA…
[https://www.prairiemoon.com/seeds/native-wildflowers/#/?resultsPerPage=24&filter.ss_south=VA](https://www.prairiemoon.com/seeds/native-wildflowers/#/?resultsPerPage=24&filter.ss_south=VA)
No doubt there are sources closer to you. Hopefully others will chime in in that regard. (I’m in WI)
I’ve bought from here for the eastern US: https://garrettseed.com/product-category/seed-mixes/
Sprinkle them on hiking paths or near sidewalks in the spring. They don’t require much care besides initial water, so just check weather. I’ve seen videos of ppl riding bikes and just chucking handfuls of seeds places as they ride.
You eat them and poop them out on your council members lawn. Duh.
Ernst Seed in PA and Roundstone in Kentucky are both excellent native seed companies that serve the east coast, and provide some local ecotypes.
Be careful with switchgrass—wildlife professionals have backed off using too many grasses and some types of grass in their meadow mixes for this area (I’m also in the Southeast, in NC).
If the mix is too grass heavy or for some reason the grasses get a head start, they will wind up dominating the mix and outcompeting all your forbs. At a seminar I attended recently, a speaker opined that a good meadow mix contains only enough grasses to carry fire when you’re ready to burn it lol.
If you’re going for a meadow look, where things are all jumbled up, you could do worse than a mix recommended by Ernst or Roundstone. Good mixes are all native to your region and have a planned blend of seeds.
A good mix will have some annuals and quick start perennials to suppress weeds the first two years until the slower perennials start to show up. The forbs will also be chosen to provide blooms from spring to frost once established.
Or you can buy individual seed packets and have groups or drifts of flowers.
Burn them. Purchase native seeds instead