Forum home Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

wild flowers from seed

I have had several tries at growing perenial wild flowers from seed but each time nothing germnated. I am trying to fill my front garden with wild flowers and it is costing me a small fortune to buy established plants. Any ideas gratefully received.

«1

Posts

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    what are you trying rubber and where are you getting the seeds from?



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • Join the club rubber - I too spent a small fortune on wild flower seeds

    (from garden centres and online) and only grew 6 oxeye daisies for my pains!!!!

    I finally resorted to spending another small fortune on plug plants which are

    doing very well. Listen to Nutcutlet and you won't go far wrong - I think the

    cold wet spring has a lot to answer for this year. I have since sown a packet

    of mixed wildflower seeds from the RHS (at the end of May) straight into the

    ground and it is doing really well - I have lots of little green shoots - so don't

    give up!!
  • rubberrubber Posts: 80

    Thanks for the replies. I have tried primroses, cowlips and mixed wild flower perenial seed from a specialist firm. I still have about £15 pounds worth of seed left from this pack but need advise on how to get them to grow.

  • I mentioned a while ago that I threw down some Yellow Rattle on the strip between my garden and my neighbour's last Autumn. It seems to be working in that the grass hasn't grown half as quick as my lawn. 

    Any advice would be welcome. I'm thinking of sowing a short-plant wildflower mix in the Autumn after mowing and scaryfing it. Should I add some more Yellow Rattle to the mix?

    Digging it over isn't an option - it's officially council land. I'm just accidentally dropping the seeds

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    Fresher the better with most seeds, primroses/cowslips especially. someoneon here recently said Monty D was sowing them green. I sow tham as soon as they're ripe snd they germinate. If you dry them off they may germinate.or they may not. This goes for a lot of native plants and you may be better off buying one plant, no more expensive than a packet of seed if you buy it small and collecting your own seed and sowing it straight away, or just let the plant seed and transplant the seedlings. Nothing native needs heat to germinate.

    Do as nature does. That works for natives. When the plant is shedding seed, sow yours. Put it in a pot, cover with grit to help protect from washout in heavy rain. Put it up a corner somewhere outside and leave it alone. It will be watered when it rains, it will get chilled when it's cold and germinate when it's ready.

    q-r, if you've started yellow rattle and let it seed you won't need to do anything else.



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • Catbee2Catbee2 Posts: 25

    Last year I sowed countless seeds from a specialist firm to little avail, .eventually I decided that as well as poor weather the birds we having a feast so I covered with fleece until they had germinated and got established.  Didnt have much growth or any flowers. Decided not to cut down in the Autumn and just left.  This year they are great and we have at least 9 or 10 different species in flower at the moment.  So - just don't give up on them.

  • Thanks Nut and Catbee! 

  • rubberrubber Posts: 80

    I threw some of the seeds in a tray of compost and put in my cold greenhouse and to my surprise they have germinated. So I now have 3 trays full of wild flower seedlings but need advise now on how to look after them so they dont shrivel up and die before the spring.

     

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,617

    just keep them damp and on the cold side. A cold frame is fine. or even outside in mild weather.

  • I sowed some wildflower seeds straight into my wildflower garden in late

    Autumn and to my surprise they're all ready sprouting well.  At least I think

    it's my wildflower seeds but maybe it's just weeds!!  I think it's mainly the

    corncockle seeds which have come up.  I also planted cowslips and primrose

    plugs at the same time and although they've not actually grown they are 

    "hanging in there" despite the very wet weather.  Hope you have success with

    your seeds Rubber.  I think the reason mine didn't germinate last spring when

    I sowed them in trays was because they didn't get exposed early enough to

    really cold weather, so I should think yours will do well.image

Sign In or Register to comment.