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Wildflower seeds
JerryBone
Posts: 91
Hi everyone,
I sowed a raised vegetable bed with a wildflower seed mix that I was gifted, I sowed them at the beginning of this month, I was expecting to maybe see something by now. however still nothing has come up yet, I am quite confident that I would be able to recognise the seedlings as the only weeds I get in my garden is chick weed.
I also sowed some in a large trey in my greenhouse so that id be able to identify the seedlings by comparing the two sites. this also has had nothing germinate.
Do you think my seeds are bad? im thinking of re sowing them with a different seed mix, I have just purchased a mix of cornflower as an emergency supply!
Any ideas of advice would be much appreciated! thank you all!
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Posts
Jerry, in my experience they either romp away or just don't come up. Fresh seed is important with wildflowers, and some of these mixes are hanging around on shelves for years. It may be that the seed was old. They also like quite poor soil, an ex veg bed may not be the best place for them. I think the fashion for wildflowers has led to varying quality in what's being sold.
Hi Dave,
Thanks for your response, I think that the packet sown was old. I think I will plant the new packet this weekend if still nothing has shown. I'm keeping my fingers crossed as I've been excited about having wildflowers all winter long!
Thank you for your reply!
There are so many different wildflowers with so many different requirements of sowing time, soil and moisture.
You mention cornflowers so I assume and annual mix of some sort. Do you know what was in there?
In the sticks near Peterborough
Hi nutcutlet,
Yes it was an annual seed variety, from memory it included Oxe eye daiseys, poppies, cornflower and another type of daisy that I cant remember. all of which I believe are fast germinators?
I have never really grown a wildflower mix before so I may just be being very impatient haha.
It's very cold, cornflower germinate well at this time of year usually. If you're going to re-sow, wait for this extra winter to end,
poppies can be a bit erratic. Mine sow themselves and do it in late summer.
Native wildflowers can all be sown in autumn, outside. It's what they've been doing since before we invented gardens and greenhouses.
I don't think wildflowers can be considered as a group needing poor soil. They all have different needs. There's a wildflower for every soil type. The poor soil thing is probably about growing wildflowers in grass, like a hay meadow. In rich soil the grass will swamp everything but a few toughies.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Thank you sharing your knowledge with me! I think I will plant some of the new seed into some treys in my greenhouse for now, whilst I wait a little longer on the previously planted seeds.
so that if they do not eventually come up, I should have some plants as back ups in the greenhouse ready to plant out.
Thanks again,
That should do nicely for cornflowers. Sow any poppies direct, they don't like being transplanted. I have done it but it sets them back
In the sticks near Peterborough
My poppy seeds have taken a few weeks to germinate outside & it may still be too early for them JerryBone - I would give them another week or so before writing them off.
Thanks so much, I'll give it a shot!