Return of wildflowers to roadside ditches

by shaed
(Markdale, ON, Canada)

Lacey

Since the banning of chemical weed removal in our area our roadside ditches are blooming with abandon. Some of my favourites are sweet peas, mallow, primrose, and bellflower. Of course there is plenty of Queen Anne's Lace and golden rod of all kinds. Some are more desirable than others. My question is that if I am able to get seeds of the plants I like but don't yet have, can I simply broadcast into the meadow and hope they'll germinate as they must do naturally? Being the "lazy gardener" I hope you say yes, but maybe you will say to prepare some beds. Any advice that won't require too much effort?

Doug says that yes, in theory that will work. There's competition there so it might not work as well as you'd like. A more certain way is to start the seeds and transplant them into the area you want them to grow. Then weed around them until they're established and can self-sow. Remember that ants and mice eat over 95% of all seeds sown naturally (or we'd be overrun with plants) and this makes sowing a chancy proposition in this kind of area unless you really saturate the area with seed (thus attracting even more ants and mice) :-) But nothing ventured, nothing gained. :-)

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Return of wildflowers to roadside ditches

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Great Solution
by: shaed

Such a great idea Doug, thanks. Don't know why I didn't think of it, but that's why I asked you. Generally, I don't start seeds because we have a cold, old, dark farmhouse, and any available space is already crowded with houseplants. But starting seeds in pots after the weather outside is good, or even in a cold frame which I suspect would be beneficial, given my climate and the seeds' natural environment is a perfect idea. Then transplanting to areas I want them would be definitely do-able.

You've Got Lots
by: Doug

Lance - my guess is you've got lots of ants and mice - just think how many plants you'd have if you didn't have them. :-) Each poppy for example produces literally hundreds of seeds - did each of these germinate? Nah..... So something is getting them even though you got a great show. My .02 is that you should celebrate what you did get and equally celebrate being able to keep one small part of nature well fed. :-)

wildflower broadcast sowing of seed
by: Lance

I'm not terribly experienced in this area, but will relate my own limited scattering of seed.

We bought our home only two years ago, and the previous owners did nothing with the designated garden spaces.

Unable to purposefully plant perennials over all areas, I happened to come across 'Wildflower Mix' at a dollar store. It was a packet of seeds (Annuals)with standards like Shirley Poppies, Black-Eyed Susan, Cornflower, Babies Breath, Forget-Me-Not, etc.

I literally tossed them across this triangular patch of rather poor soil in the backyard and ye gods! It produced a hedge of blooms that self-sowed so that this year the very same varieties came back in spades. And I must say, they are very appealing and I won't do anything to disturb them.

I guess we are rather low on mice and ants here in Kamloops.

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Doug Green