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Sowing wild flowers

mac12mac12 Posts: 209
in Plants
I've got some expensive wild flower seeds but don't know whether to sow now or wait until spring. Some things I've read say sow now and they should all flower next year but sowing in spring it will take 2 years for them all to flower. If they seeded naturally the seed would already be on the ground.
What's everyone's opinion?
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Posts

  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    What have you got,where are you planting,where do you live,?
  • mac12mac12 Posts: 209
    A pack of 26 different seeds but I can't tell you all the names. I'm sowing them on some bare light but nice soil that's not grown anything for at least 6 months and I live near the humber bridge 
  • Chris-P-BaconChris-P-Bacon Posts: 943
    Perennial or annual? The former needs impoverished soil, the latter a richer soil.
  • mac12mac12 Posts: 209
    As far I know both 
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    I suggest you do half the packet now, and half the packet in the spring.  It may also have the benefit of making it more successional.   A bit of an experiment to discover the best method.  You could either do the front half of the bed or the back half.  Or mix them together.  Scatter half and rake in now.  Then in the spring mix the remaining with a few handfuls of compost and scatter in and then water to settle.  
    Utah, USA.
  • CharlotteFCharlotteF Posts: 337
    Blue Onion said:
    I suggest you do half the packet now, and half the packet in the spring.  It may also have the benefit of making it more successional.   A bit of an experiment to discover the best method.  You could either do the front half of the bed or the back half.  Or mix them together.  Scatter half and rake in now.  Then in the spring mix the remaining with a few handfuls of compost and scatter in and then water to settle.  
    Yes I think that's what I'd do, unless you go through variety by variety and work out what each needs. Some will germinate now and overwinter as small plants, some will need the winter cold to stratify the seed before germinating in spring, others will just sit and rot over winter and be better sown in spring. If you know which is which you could hold some back, but if not @Blue Onion 's suggestion means you'll cover all the bases!
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I'd agree - it's virtually impossible to be accurate with advice, because your location, climate and conditions, as well as the seed/plant types, are all factors. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    Also how big is the area you are covering,any chance of pictures
  • mac12mac12 Posts: 209
    It's about 10 square metres. I'm not good with pictures 
  • Jac19Jac19 Posts: 496
    edited October 2021
    Blue Onion said:
    I suggest you do half the packet now, and half the packet in the spring.  It may also have the benefit of making it more successional.   A bit of an experiment to discover the best method.  You could either do the front half of the bed or the back half.  Or mix them together.  Scatter half and rake in now.  Then in the spring mix the remaining with a few handfuls of compost and scatter in and then water to settle.  
    Excellent idea.  Seeds sown now flower earlier.  Seeds sown like in late March will flower a little later.

    I have bought seeds, too.  But I have to pull and clear last year's annuals.  I have been asking people here when it is the right time to pull them and sow the seeds.  I don't want to deprive the bees of their hybernation nectar.

    I have been advised to sow them in trays in the garage and plant the seedlings into place early next spring.
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