Wildflower seed companies (any recomendations?)

[mooman]

Planning on installing a 7,000 sq ft wildflower meadow this year. I knew the seed would cost some money, but it seems like the prices are somewhat variabe depending on the company. Anybody have a company they were pleased with?

 

[vfem]

I've never done this or purchased for it, but here are some sites I found:

http://www.flowersoul.com/

http://www.bentleyseeds.com/wildflowers.php

http://www.espseeds.com/

http://www.americanmeadows.com/Category.aspx?DeptID=21
(This one I have bought plants from at our local nursery who was raising money for replanting of meadows across the US. The plants I have are GORGEOUS!)

 

[GrowinVeggiesInSC]

I purchased pants and seeds from this site last year, and loved it! The guy who runs it can tell you what is native to your area and is more than happy to talk to you on the phone to help you out.

http://easywildflowers.com/index.html


Good luck!

 

[theOEGBman]

I purchased pants and seeds from this site last year, and loved it! The guy who runs it can tell you what is native to your area and is more than happy to talk to you on the phone to help you out.

http://easywildflowers.com/index.html


Good luck!

Ha, that made me laugh. I would love to see pics of the meadow once you get everything going!

 

[simple life]

Ha, good eye Jordan.

 

[GrowinVeggiesInSC]

I purchased pants and seeds from this site last year, and loved it! The guy who runs it can tell you what is native to your area and is more than happy to talk to you on the phone to help you out.

http://easywildflowers.com/index.html


Good luck!

Ha, that made me laugh. I would love to see pics of the meadow once you get everything going!

Heehee. The "L" key on my keyboard is sticky, so that happens a lot.

 

[robbobbin]

Ditto the easywildflowers.com
I purchased plants from him last 2 years-he's wonderful, packing is marvelous, and the plant were very surprisingly nice sized. I have been very please with quality / quantity/ and customer service.

 

[lesa]

I was very pleased with Vermont Wildflower Farm. I wish I wasn't so stupid, so I could post pics! I did about a 1/2 acre. By the end of summer, I had 6 foot tall wildflower meadow. I was picking huge bouquets of flowers. I really was surprised how well it worked out. They are very helpful on the phone and email. It is also a really fun place to visit...Things are starting to come up now and I am ready to add a little more seed for the season. This year I am going to mow isles, so I can get out to the middle of the sea of flowers! Enjoy!

 

[Debby]

If you're still looking for a source of wildflower seeds, here are two more.

Ernst. http://www.ernstseed.com/

Prairie Nursery. http://www.prairienursery.com/store/

GrowingVegiesInSC you mentioned the natives and my ears perked up! I love that subject and not all wildflowers are native.

I understand these are the only plants that our native insects will eat. I read a wonderful book on the subject written by an entomologist named Tallamy, called Bringing Nature Home.

http://www.timberpress.com/books/isbn.cfm/9780881928549

A great book. It really is the sort of thing you'll like, if you like that sort of thing.

The general gist was while some insects feed on any and all plants and become horrible pests, most insect species do not. Remarkably, most are genetically and physiologically programed to select only specific plants as food. Often a given insect will pick only ONE host plant which they are chemically attracted to, sort of like taste or smell. If that plant isn't available, that insect will die rather than eat another. The native insects are of course looking for the native plants they evolved with. They in turn are favored by our native birds and this really helps the birds during baby feeding season when protein is needed.

After I read that I went out into my "prairie", looked around. Whoops, I was discouraged to see a ton of non-native plants. Turns out some wildflower mixes have plants like Shasta daisies, Dames Rocket, Queen Anne's lace, batchlor's buttons, and flax that are not natives and I had picked one of those mixes. The flowers were beautiful, but I want a little patch of nature sanctuary that can attract and support a little wildlife. So I bit the bullet and started again.

I live in the Northeast and have mostly upland sites. I went through some lists on the internet and tried to pick plants that would grow well and are favored by bugs, butterflys and/or hummingbirds:

bee balm
all the asters
black-eyed susan
perennial sunflowers
prairie ironweed
milkweeds
and some of the shorter warm season grasses like little blue stem (The taller warm season grasses really hide the flowers.)

Can't say if it will work since I just planted this year.

Is anyone else getting wrapped up in this aspect of wildflower mixes? What have your experiences been?

Debby