Sow seeds in the winter to have your own patch of wildflowers in the spring
Every year, bluebonnets line the roads and fill fields all around Waxahachie, creating a beautiful landscape and a perfect photo op. And if you’d like to make your own field of bluebonnets, or just a pocket prairie in your backyard, you can sow seeds from September through November and start enjoying the blooms the very next spring.
Having your own spot of wildflowers is easy. All you need is a little bit of space and an adequate supply of seed. Plant a wildflower mix and you can look forward to beautiful colors that will take you from spring to fall with a succession of colors.
Bluebonnets pop up first in the spring followed by fiery Indian blanket and vibrant sunflowers, soft primrose, and hardy lemon mint for a nearly all-year long display of pretty colors.
When to plant
When you see the bluebonnets blooming in the spring, it’s too late to begin thinking about a bluebonnet patch for that year. These Texas lupines sprout in late December and grow as small crowns just above the ground all through the winter no matter how cold it gets.
Then when the temperatures warm in March, they quickly shoot up with a head of blue flowers.
Therefore the best time to sow seeds for bluebonnets is from November to early December. And because native wildflowers can take whatever the local climate deals them, it’s also safe to sow Indian blanket, Indian paintbrush, evening primrose, verbena, lemon mint, wild sunflowers and all other native flowers too while you’re sowing the bluebonnets.
Where to plant
If you’re located on several acres, then all you need to do is pick a spot that’s in full sunlight and that you can leave unmowed for most of the year.
If you are a city dweller and just have a backyard available, then you can create a so-called pocket prairie in a sunny area of the yard. A pocket prairie is just a small patch, often a 4-foot by 4-foot square, where you can keep a variety of wildflowers thriving and providing nectar to hummingbirds, bees and butterflies.
How to plant
One of the most enjoyable qualities about wildflowers is how easy they are to sow. You don’t need to plow a field or till up a backyard to get them started. Just toss the seeds where you want them to grow, and as long as they are in contact with the soil, they’ll have no problem taking root.
If you’re planting them in a field where there’s a lot of tall grass, a good mowing before sowing the seed will help. If you’re sowing the seeds in a backyard where the bermuda or St. Augustine turf is thick, then you’ll want to scrape the surface clean. But other than that, tossing the seeds out is about all it takes.
How to Maintain
Wildflowers are fairly maintenance-free: they need only rainfall for watering, and fertilizing the soil is a sure way to impair them.
If you want to have a self-seeding field or pocket prairie that comes back year after year, you’ll need to give the mower a rest. Bluebonnets produce seeds in pods in June, but the seeds can take until July to dry out and pop off the dead stalks to sow themselves.
And just about the time that bluebonnets are going to seed, Indian blanket, lemon mint and other summertime flowers will be in full bloom, so there are only two opportunities to mow a wildflower area and not interfere with the wildflower cycle: late-July and early winter. In late July, most of the summer wildflowers will be going to seed, and the fall flowers will still be just beginning to grow up. In the early winter, bluebonnets will be short enough to be safe from mower blades. The best results will come from limiting mowing to once a year, at the end of fall.
No Pesticides
Because you’ll be planting wildflowers, you’ll attract a wide variety of bumblebees, butterflies and hummingbirds to your flower patch or wildflower field. The last thing you’ll want to do is to bring these pollinators into your area just to kill them with pesticides. So, you’ll want to refrain from using insecticides and harming the birds and insects that are essential to our ecosystem.
Where to Buy Seed
Starting out with a new wildflower area or adding more of a mix to one that’s already established can take a large amount of seed. To get the best value for your dollar, there are several sources to get bulk wildflower seeds:
Ellis Prairie Soil and Water Conservation District
1822 FM 66, Ste 102, Waxahachie, TX 75167-5507 [map]
Phone: 972-937-2660
The EPSWCD has bluebonnet and wildflower mixes available by the pound. Bluebonnets are $30 per pound, and wildflower mix is available for $28 per pound.
The wildflower mix includes bluebonnets, Indian blanket, Indian paintbrush, blackeyed susans, lemon mint, Mexican hat, primrose and much more, making it a good value for anyone who wants to sow a wide variety of flowers.
NOTE: Due to COVID-19, the EPSWCD office asks that anyone who wants to buy seed call ahead and arrange for curbside pickup.
Native American Seed
The Native American Seed website is a resource for both purchasing seed and learning about how to restore wildflower and grassland habitat. They also have seed for milkweed, which is the only plant that the threatened monarch butterfly caterpillars can eat.
Wildseed Farms
The Wildseed Farm website has seed available for each variety of wildflower and wildflower mixes suited for specific purposes — such as a butterfly mix or a Texas-Oklahoma mix.