PLANTING INSTRUCTIONS

For most temperate regions of the United States, spring planting is best carried out within a month or so after the final frost of the winter season. The exact date will naturally vary based on your region and the severity of the winter season. The important thing is to not ‘jump the gun” and plant too early; if seeds are installed prior to a late-season frost, they will be lost for the season and will need to be re-seeded.

For this mix, a late summer or early fall planting is recommended, once temperatures have started to cool but with your first expected frost still a few weeks out.

For areas that tend to have little to no frost (Florida, Texas, California, etc..), wildflower can be planted all year round except in the dead of summer. For areas that get a hard, killing frost (Indiana, New York, Minnesota, etc..), wildflower should be planted in spring, summer and fall. Most wildflower mixes unless otherwise noted need at least 6 hours of sun to perform well. Full sun all day will give best results.

Preparing the Soil: Remove all vegetation from the area where wildflower seed will be sowed. Remove any plants, till the soil and rake the area flat. If soil is a hard, no draining clay soil then compost should be added to help aid drainage.

Planting Wildflower: Sand should be added to wildflower mixes that do not have filler already mixed in. Sand will help spread seeds better without clumps and can be seen better to aid in spreading. with sand for better visibilty and scatter the seeds directly on top of the soil. If you are sowing a larger area, we recommend using a seed spreader if not, you can sow by hand. After the seeds has been spread out they should be lightly compressed into the soil, making sure not to bury them but compressed enough so rain and wind will not move. You can either walk on them, use a board or if you are sowing a larger area, rent a seed roller.

Growing Wildflower: It is important to keep the soil moist until the seedlings are about 4-6? tall. After that, the seedlings will survive on natural rains. During dry weather the occasional watering will help. Do not let soil dry out while they are seedlings are this will kill the plants.

Caring for Wildflower: Once a year the wildflower meadow should be mowed over. Wait until late fall when all the flowers have bloomed and dropped their seeds. Then with a weed trimmer, or a mower set on a tallest setting, mow over the entire meadow of wildflower. This will encourage strong growth in the spring without competing with dead old foliage.

COLD STRATIFYING:  Everyone wants plants. Now. But there are a small group of seeds that require a special treatment before they will even germinate in a climate that has temperatures below freezing. This process is called “Cold Stratification.” There are two ways to accomplish this.

Fall Planting: If time is not a problem, you can put them in the ground in fall and let them go through a winter. They will sprout next year, but not flower. The following year, having gone through two winters, they will return and bloom as expected.  If you are planting poppies direct sowing is recommended in late fall or early spring for zones 2-8

Create a "False Winter": The second way to do this, if you want to save time, is to create a “false winter.”  What this does is trick the seeds into thinking they have been in the ground for an entire year.  All they need is to be in your refrigerator for at least 2 ½ months.  About 3 months before spring, place seeds in a plastic bag with a handful of slightly dampened, clean peat, paper towel, or a mix of clean peat and sand.  Seal and label the bag with seed name and date, then store in the refrigerator (not freezer) for at least 2½ mos. before planting in spring. (The cold period mimics a full winter’s cold.)

Once your seed has been treated, it’s ready to plant when spring arrives.