WILDFLOWERS
By Trey Pitsenberger, co-owner Golden Gecko

Once again our foothills have turned green with the arrival of spring. Soon these same green hills will be filled with wildflowers, reminding us just why we choose the foothills to live. These wildflowers that we enjoy are in many cases non-native, brought to these hills by the pioneers on the hooves of cattle or other beasts of burden. These flowers have spread all through the hills and in many cases are why our hills are so beautiful green. There are many native wildflowers including the California poppy, which is surely one of the most popular and widely planted wildflowers. Whether you wish to plant native wildflowers, or just pretty ones the choice of planting site and preparation is the same.

Most wildflowers prefer to be in full sun. Some light shade, such as that under oak trees is ok. Avoid any dark areas, as the flowers will not bloom well, and eventually they will die out. While it is possible to scatter wildflower seed over the area without any preparation, you will find that by preparing the area you will have a much better germination rate and establishment. Unlike most plants, the addition of soil amendment is not recommended where wildflowers are to be grown. They prefer soil that is not conditioned with amendments. Try to scratch the surface of the soil with a steel rake, so as to break the hard crust of earth and give the seeds a place to settle. Once the seed has been sown, take the rake and gently work the seed into the top inch or less of soil.

Wildflowers do not like to start their life with competition from weeds. If we can kill most of the weeds and weed seeds before we plant the wildflowers it will be easier to get the wildflowers to grow. To kill the weeds you can either pull, till, or spray herbicide on them. I prefer to use Kleen-up herbicide as it does not affect the soil and kills the weeds within a week or so. If you have the time, you can irrigate the area after the first spraying, thus getting the dormant weeds seeds to sprout. Spray these weeds again with the Kleen-up. If you can irrigate again, and do a third spraying, you will have germinated and then killed most all the weeds that would later compete with the wildflowers. This process can take a month or longer, so you will need to plan ahead.

While spring is when we see, and therefore want to plant wildflowers, fall is also a great time to plant. It is best not to plant wildflowers in the summer or winter. They need cool, but not cold weather to germinate. February through April or late September through October are the optimal months to plant.

Wildflowers come in cans or bags sold by the ounce or pound. There is usually a coverage rate listed on the container. You need to find out if that rate is for the foothills, as we need to put the seed on a lot thicker than other places due to our hard tough soil. Sometimes the seed is put on twice as thick as it would be in the valley. Wildflower seed can be quite small. It would be easy to quickly scatter the seed before you had a chance to cover the square footage the package recommends. Try mixing the seed with sand so that you will have some bulk to throw out. Determine the square footage of the area to be seeded, how much seed is needed for that area, and apply that amount of seed. It is better to overdo the seeding than not putting enough on.

There are many types of wildflowers to use, as well as blends of wildflowers that work well together. There are dwarf mixes, and mixes that have all tall flowers. Some have perennials and annuals mixed together while other people like to mix their own. I like the orange California poppy mixed with the blue lupine for an outstanding display.

If you want to grow wildflowers be sure to act quickly, or plan on fall planting. We want to get the seeds in the ground by the end of April. This will give the plants a chance to grow and flower while the weather is still on the cooler side.