Growing wildflowers is an excellent way to welcome wildlife, such as pollinators, to your garden. Learn how and when to plant wildflower seeds for a simple and cost-effective method to get started. This guide will explain what wildflowers are, how to grow them, and how to care for them so they'll thrive for many years to come. 

What Are Wildflowers?

Wildflowers worldwide are plants that grow naturally in the wild without any human involvement. These plants are a mix of annuals, short-lived perennials, and long-lived perennials; some live for just a single season before setting seed and dying, while others live more than a year but don't necessarily produce seeds each growing season. The mix of wildflowers you choose to plant should ideally contain some of each type for the quickest and longest-lasting show. 

Aside from their beauty, wildflowers create prime pollinator habitat. While some wildflower varieties might produce large, flamboyant flowers loaded with petals, these cultivated varieties (aka cultivars) do little to contribute pollen and nectar. Further, cultivars very often don't come true to type from seed–if they’re even able to produce seed at all. So while many cultivars are derived from otherwise obvious “wildflowers” native to a given region, they aren’t especially great for creating a wildflower garden. That's why it's best to plant wild-type seed mixes.

Choosing Wildflower Mixes

Depending on where you live in the United States or abroad, you'll want to find or create a mix of wildflower seeds that contain plants adapted to your climate. Desert plants wouldn't do well in a cold, wet climate, and cool weather plants would quickly die off in a hot and dry environment. So, choosing the right mix with the help of your local nursery or university extension office is key to creating a wildflower garden that will thrive for many years.

Another point to consider is the use of grasses. While these plants don't produce showy, colorful blooms, grasses provide much-needed texture in the garden. Consider adding native ornamental grasses to your seed mix or planting them in the ground before overseeding with your wildflower mix.

When to Plant Wildflower Seeds

Spring, before summer heat, is when to plant wildflower seeds for the most lush garden. Although it can be tempting to plant later in the season while inspiration is blooming around you, know that seeds are less likely to be eaten, dry out, or blow away in the spring when temperatures are cooler and moisture is typically more abundant. Planting your wildflowers in spring will also give the seedlings a full growing season to become established and endure the winter.

Preparing Your Garden

While wildflowers might not need assistance reseeding themselves in the wild, they may need some help jumpstarting their growth under cultivation. These tips will help get you going with how and when to plant wildflower seeds.

1. Pick a Sunny Location

As with many gardening plans, location is critical. So, before you begin tilling the soil or purchase seeds, take time to plan where your wildflower garden will go. Because most wildflowers are pollinated by insects that require ultraviolet light to see, the vast majority of these plants do best grown in full sun to part shade. With this in mind, select a site in the garden that gets at least 8 hours of sun per day.

2. Clear the Ground

Before you begin seeding or planting, remove existing vegetation and thatch from the planting area to avoid competition and barriers to growth. While some seeds can grow if you just cast them into existing beds, you will have more growth when starting with a clean slate. 

3. Amend the Soil

In some areas, soils have been depleted from years of degradation, chemical use, and removal of top soil (largely done in new developments). For these reasons, amending your soil with organic matter, such as compost or aged manure, can be especially helpful. Organic probiotic fertilizers containing beneficial bacteria and fungi will also help to increase soil vitality and create a better growing environment for your seedlings. The best time of the year to amend the soil is in fall.

Planting Wildflower Seeds

Believe it or not, there’s an art to how and when to plant wildflower seeds, which is typically done by broadcasting. Broadcasting seeds is where seeds are spread (usually by hand) across prepared ground and allowed to land where they may. Broadcasting helps to create a random distribution of seeds and species contained in the seed mix.

While the broadcasting rate doesn't have to be exacting or evenly distributed, know that too little seed results in a barren look that leaves soil open for weeds to take hold. On the other hand, too much seed can lead to crowding and poor growth. To avoid over- and under-seeding, there are a couple of tricks you can use to ensure good distribution:

• Separate your seed mix into two or three equal parts. Depending on the total amount of seed you'll be working with, this can help keep the portions manageable and equally mixed.
• Mix your proportioned seeds with sand in a roughly 8:1 ratio. Sand is inert and actually beneficial to many soils, so it is a great way to help evenly distribute the seeds within the mix.

While several seed and fertilizer broadcasters are available on the market that work well, the easiest and cheapest method to broadcast seeds in small to medium-sized gardens is by hand. Simply grab a handful of mix and gently toss across the bare soil with long, even throws. Take two or three test broadcasts to get the feel of the mix leaving your hand, then continue with the rest of the seeds. A good strategy is to broadcast half of your mix evenly across the entirety of the prepared bed and then broadcast the area again with the second half of the mix.

After you've broadcast your seeds, you'll need to compress them a bit into the soil to help soil and seeds make good contact. No additional equipment is necessary for smaller areas, and simply walking across the entirety of the area will work well. Some gardeners like to do this barefoot because shoes can pick up seeds due to static electricity and deep treads.

For larger areas, a soil compactor (basically a large drum filled with water or sand) can do the job much quicker than by foot. It's also important to note that seeds shouldn't be covered with soil. Many wildflower seeds require sunlight exposure to germinate, and covering your seeds with soil can significantly reduce germination rates.

Make sure to water the area thoroughly once you've planted your wildflower seeds. Try to avoid watering with heavy sprays or big droplets that will dislodge or move seeds around. And only use as much water as the soil can handle without creating puddles, which can cause seeds to float.

Caring for Your Wildflowers

Within the first few weeks, you should notice some sprouting from your seeds, especially annuals that grow quickly from seeds. In general, perennials, and especially natives, will be a bit slower to get started. While annuals will bloom the same year you plant the seeds, expect most perennial wildflowers to not begin blooming until the second or third year.

Water

Keep your wildflowers well watered throughout the first growing season. Plants native to a given region typically will not need nearly as much water–if any–after the first growing season, which cuts back on water usage significantly over the long run. 

Reseeding

Remember that many wildflowers will need to set seed each year to replace the parent plants over time. Aside from editing out some of the more exuberant seeders, avoid the temptation to deadhead flowers and let your plants go to seed each season.

Pests and Diseases

Because of the diversity of species in a typical wildflower mix, disease is rarely a problem that affects all the species in the garden. If pests such as aphids, mealybugs, or whiteflies occur, hold off on spraying chemicals, especially while plants are blooming. Wildflowers in bloom attract many pollinators and the spraying to control pest insects will also harm beneficial insects. In lieu of spraying pesticides, allow beneficial predatory insects to reduce pest populations. 

Wildflowers are excellent additions to most gardens. The benefit to pollinators is only icing on the cake compared to the beauty that they bring year after year.